Little Piece of Heaven
by Leanne Ash
Summary: SasuSaku: "I don't do it because I think you're weak! I do it because—! Because I… just… Never mind." Years later it finally happened. Unfortunately, she just didn't care anymore. A story of love and irony, where one is oblivious… and the other is Sasuke.
1. Chapter 1

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Naruto.

**Summary:** Alternate Universe from 3year break. Years later it finally happened. Sasuke was finally able to acknlowedge the qualities of one Haruno Sakura... Unfortunately, by this time she just didn't care anymore. The classic story of love and irony, where one is oblivious… and the other is Sasuke. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

**

* * *

****Chapter 1**

"_You know…you really are annoying."_

It seemed so long ago.

He was already 18. The need for revenge that consumed his childhood had been extinguished. His brother was dead, and now he, Uchiha Sasuke, was back in Konoha.

Why? Well that was a funny story. The fight with his brother had been almost futile. They nearly destroyed eachother, and in the end, it was Uzumaki Naruto who had found his best friend's mangled half-dead body, sprawled god knows where, and dragged it back to Konoha.

She had been standing on a tree limb just over the front gates, her exquisite pink hair, now shoulder-length grazing the porcelain skin of her cheeks from the warm spring breeze. The curiously wide forehead, gone. The green doe-like eyes, stunningly captivating. Konoha's smartest kunoichi had grown up, and the once hot-tempered, lovesick little girl was now the village sweetheart, bursting with charm and intelligence.

And as they approached, Naruto supporting Sasuke's weight on his shoulder, Haruno Sakura was ready. This was it. This is where the years of mentally abandoning the idea of Sasuke and her together would pay off. It was something she knew she earned.

After all, Sasuke had made it clear, many times, that he wasn't interested in her. Certainly his blow to her head during their last meeting was enough to start the flow of rational. She offered her heart and soul to him and he had eyed it like a slab of unappealing meat on a stick. Of course at the moment she had been crying, begging and letting her voice hit high altitudes. Annoying. That was what he had called her.

Annoying… 

But that was the past. She had grown up. Her priorities had changed and no longer would she torture herself trying to gain the recognition of a certain someone who just didn't care.

_Don't yell "Sasuke-kun," don't yell "Sasuke-kun"…_

"You know, you could be more helpful," she heard Naruto grumble. "Probably having both legs broken is no excuse to keep dragging your feet like that."

"Shut up, dobe…" came the half-hearted reply.

The sound of Sasuke's voice sent a slight tremor to her feet, almost yanking her off the tree and quickly to Sasuke's side. It had been years since she'd heard that voice. It was that deep, silky monotonous tone that captured a great deal of his essences; a voice she heard in so many of her dreams.

She couldn't help but notice how much more attractive he had become. He had grown taller, more muscular. The hair was the same: black and rebelliously spiked… bangs framing his pale, stoic features. Eyes, of course, that same cold obsidian that reflected an almost fearful intensity.

The young Sasuke in her dreams was now a man in the flesh.

And yet, despite the tinge of sentimentality, of lost hopes and dreams, Sakura felt close to nothing for the dark haired boy. She had moved on. She was in a state-of-mind she thought she'd never reach as she watched Sasuke and Naruto pass beneath her.

This was her test.

As she watched Sasuke's return after so many years she would not be the one running out to greet him. Would not wrap her needy arms around him, fall to her knees crying, and remain there crying even hours after he'd left.

They were heading toward the hospital now.

The test had been passed.

She hadn't moved a muscle.

* * *

"Hey, Sakura-chan…" 

"What is it?" Sakura asked, looking up from the rather large book she was studying in her teacher's office.

"If you were wondering, Sasuke's been doing a lot better…" Naruto informed cautiously.

"Really?" she asked with a smile, eyes drifting back to the rustic-coloured pages infront of her. "Glad to hear."

"You still haven't seen him, Sakura-chan."

He noticed upon saying it that something in her expression turned frigid. It was shaken away before returning to her warm, charismatic smile.

"I've just been busy," she lied "but I'll be sure to stop by today."

The rather grim expression on Naruto's face obliterated as he chuckled nervously. "That's good, Sakura-chan. You had me worried! 'Cause you know, Sasuke's been back for two weeks and I thought for sure you'd be taking care of him. Haha! That bastard's been bitching non-stop cause he's under probation and has to be stuck with me all day."

"Has he…" Sakura made note to smack herself for being curious "…asked about me?"

Naruto crossed his arms behind his head and wrinkled his brow in thought. "No…I don't think so… But I told him all about what you've been up to lately, and that you're a total babe!"

She leaned over the desk and punched him playfully in the arm. "Idiot…" she growled.

He laughed and placed a hand on the doorframe. "I'll let you get back to your studies," Naruto hesitated before leaving, "Don't forget to visit him, okay?"

She waved half-heartedly. "I will, I will…"

The door closed behind her blonde teammate with a soft click.

Sakura leaned back in her chair and sighed. Perhaps it was best she stay true to her words. After all, she had made the commitment to stop loving Sasuke, not to stop being his friend. And if one had a friend in the hospital, one should visit that friend to offer condolence… or point and laugh, whichever suited, and she guessed when Naruto visited Sasuke it was usually the second one.

After hauling away her teacher's gigantic medicine books and picking up a small bouquet of flowers, Sakura soon found herself standing hesitantly outside Sasuke's hospital room. Finding it had been rather easy, but she surprised herself at the reception desk when asking for the room number of a 'Sasuke' and not a 'Sasuke-kun' followed by metaphorical pink hearts. Years ago adding the suffix was a natural reflex that rolled off her tongue… and the hearts, well… they were just there.

With two flicks of her wrist, she knocked on his door quietly. Perhaps a little too quietly since there was no response.

Sliding the door open hesitantly, she peered in and discovered the dark-haired boy was sleeping.

Feeling satisfied with just leaving the flowers and letting him sleep, Sakura tiptoed her way to the windowsill on the other side of his bed. Without realizing it, she avoided actually looking at Sasuke while picking up an empty vase on his nightstand. Placing it on the windowsill, she kept her back turned to him as she gingerly placed each individual flower into the vase.

"If you came to force-feed me apples, don't bother."

Sakura froze in her movements, and with the tiniest feeling of discouragement, resumed her flower arranging. Years ago, on another occasion Sasuke was in the hospital, she had babied him to no end. Even after he smacked the plate of apple slices she prepared into the wall, there was just no waking her. At times, reflecting on her past behavior could prove quite embarrassing. How many rude awakenings did she ignore?

"You really should be resting," she said finally.

He raised an eyebrow disdainfully, implying he _had_ been, but she disrupted it. A brief moment of silence passed before he spoke again.

"It's been a while… Sakura."

Finally she turned around, and Sasuke finally got to see his pink-haired teammate face-to-face after so many years.

Surprise flickered in those midnight eyes at the sight of her. It was rather startling. Had she really changed that much since he last saw her? Given the slight change in hair-length, she really couldn't think of what other features had been altered. Then again, something that had increased vastly over the years was her modesty.

She could feel his eyes examining her as she casually took a seat at the edge of his bed.

"Sit up." she instructed.

He narrowed his eyes in confusion. "What for?"

"The bandage on your left arm needs to be changed."

He was close to expressing his doubt in her observation when he remembered Naruto saying she was almost a high-ranking medical ninja, mentored by the village's own Hokage.

Not looking to pick a fight he sat up, struggling slightly in the process, and held out his bandaged arm for the taking.

"I hope you know what you're doing."

"Give me some credit, Sasuke." she smiled as she carefully unwrapped the bandage.

She expected him to release a small intake of breath with a smirk, to utter that trademark sound of his that just gushed with ridicule and patronize.

Much to her surprise, he remained silent after her last sentence was spoken.

She chalked it up to his lack of strength. Then again, Uchiha Sasuke was never much of a conversationalist. One would have more luck talking to a dried-out clump of dirt.

After the bandage had been removed, she curiously examined the wound.

"You were able to use chidori more than twice…?"

"Hn." There it was. He was bound to do it. "I used it 9 times," Sasuke told her in annoyance. "I overdid it when I fought my brother. The bone snapped and the skin hemorrhaged."

"I can see that… I suppose you're regretting it now?"

One look told her that he thought she had just asked the most foolish thing in the world.

"He's dead, isn't he?"

Ignoring the deadly glare as well as the question, she began applying the new bandage. "And Orochimaru?"

"I left 2 years ago when I went to search for Itachi."

She stared at Sasuke suspiciously. "It was just that easy?"

He smirked before looking away. "Guess we'll see…"

Turning her attention back to the bandage, she tightened it gently before getting up and announcing her departure.

He nodded slightly… either thanking her for her attention, or just politely saying 'Good. Get the fuck out', she wasn't sure... but she couldn't help being proud of herself upon realizing that she really didn't care.

She slid open the door but paused at the sound of his voice.

"Sakura…"

"What is it?"

Suddenly noticing the clock posted on the opposite wall, Sakura mentally began skimming her schedule for the day. _Hmm… it's just about noon…_

"You—…"

_I should finish up my studies, meet with Tsunade-sama… what else did I need to do today? Have lunch with Ino…I should train, too… _

It seemed Sasuke's voice had trailed off. She glanced behind her, not impatiently of course, just expectantly.

"Sasuke…?"

She noticed his eyes were observing her with that classic indescribable expression. Well that was nothing new. She did get lost in her thoughts again; he was probably going to ask why she looked so spaced-out.

"Nothing." he finally muttered. "Never mind."

"Okay," she said with a nod. "I'll see you around then, Sasuke! Welcome back to Konoha."

"Ah."

Closing the door behind her, she smiled confidently to herself. Yes, this is when her life was starting anew. From the moment she sat on the edge of Sasuke's bed and didn't lunge at him with arms wide open, she knew the obsession had become a thing of the past. Yes, indeed. Sakura was a smart, confident kunoichi with a brand new head on her shoulders.

Things were looking up.

But not so much on a certain someone's end, however. After Sakura had scampered off, Sasuke remained sitting up in his bed, staring with strange unsettlement at the newly wrapped bandage around his arm.

* * *

**Author's Note: **While I was going nowhere trying to write my other GaaSaku story, I started warming up to the idea of Sasuke and Sakura again. Don't ask why... I guess it depends on which side of the bed I wake up on. So far I'm being typical... Sasuke returns and a pissed off Sakura doesn't say 'kun' anymore. Have faith... It'll go its own path soon enough. Anyway, the next 4 chapters have already been written. If people like it I'll submit a new one each week... if they REALLY like it then probably twice a week. But if no one likes it, I'll just cry in a corner somewhere ...and submit anyway. Bwahaha! 


	2. Chapter 2

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Sakura winced as she managed to push one last pin through the bun in her hair. Her mother had been ecstatic when she presented her daughter with a brand new kimono, part of her quest to get Sakura noticed and married as soon as possible. The kimono was exquisite; red with glittery pink flowers embroidered throughout. Being one to please, Sakura bit her tongue and decided to humor her mother for the day.

Satisfied with her messy coil of pink hair, she pulled at several strands to dangle strategically at the sides of her face. Today she had no missions or training scheduled, so it was probably her only chance to dress up for fun and prove she was capable of being lady-like.

Lady-like? Well, she hadn't been too sure if _that_ was what caused the questionable amount of whistles and gawked-expressions as she made her way through the marketplace, but it was nice to know she was capable of getting attention. Hopefully the 'good' kind... For all she knew, a whimsical train of toilet paper could've been following her for the last half hour.

She had no agenda for the day, perhaps she would just get some lunch and shop around. Further contemplation of this continued until she soon found herself on a small wooden bridge: the meeting place for Team 7.

Since Sasuke's return, it had yet to be finalized whether or not Team 7 could become an actual _team _again. Sasuke was on probation for several months; banned from participating in missions and checked on constantly by ANBU officers. Naruto usually went on missions with other teams, as did Sakura… but it was still their hope that the Hokage would someday allow the reformation of Team 7.

Clasping her hands thoughtfully infront of her, she walked slowly across the wooden bridge that held so many memories.

"HEYYY SAKURA-CHAN!"

Naruto's voice. Sakura wondered if she had somehow gone back in time.

"Naruto?" she asked, turning in his direction. He was running at her full speed. Surprised, she noticed Sasuke was bitterly trailing after the loud blonde with his hands jammed in his pockets. That last time she saw Sasuke was her one visit to the hospital, which had been a month ago. She was amazed at how quickly he had recovered.

"Hey-hey, Sakura-chan!" exclaimed Naruto as he skidded to a stop. "You look awesome! What's the occasion?"

"No occasion, baka!" she joked, pretending to sound offended. "I _always_ look awesome."

"Yeah, well, you missed a spot!" Naruto teased, tugging loose a rebellious strand of hair from her bun. Sakura swatted his hand away playfully, lowering her head so her hands could fix her hair at a better angle.

"Hey Sasuke," she greeted offhandedly, distracted by the deed of smoothing her hair.

She heard Naruto give Sasuke a sharp elbow to the side, either to punish his trademark exhale or complete lack of acknowledge, she wasn't sure. Oh well. Once Sakura's pink locks were secure she further greeted her other teammate with a wink. "Already out of bed?"

The stoic boy gave her a quick glance before turning away to lean against the railing. "Got released a couple days ago."

"Yeah, yeah… went from being a mangled pain-in-the-ass to just a regular pain-in-the-ass," Naruto grumbled in a low voice "but listen, we were just going to get some ramen. Wanna come, Sakura-chan?"

Although unmoving from his position, Sasuke's gaze drifted to Sakura while waiting for the answer.

"Eh? Really? I'd love to!" she paused. "I mean if that's okay with you too, Sasuke?"

But the dark-haired boy had already begun walking in the direction of the market.

"Don't care," came the nonchalant reply. "Let's go already."

She furrowed her eyebrows oddly at him, but shrugged it off. Sasuke was Sasuke after all.

"Ignore him, Sakura-chan…" Naruto whispered. "He's been more difficult than usual lately. There's probably a bedpan jammed up his behind."

* * *

At the tiny ramen stand, Sakura couldn't help but feel light-hearted and giddy as she sat wedged between her two teammates. It was just like old times, indeed… with Naruto slurping down as much as he could and Sasuke in deep contemplation as to how his best friend had yet to explode.

"Good afternoon!" called a cheerful voice behind them.

The three friends turned around to see Rock Lee and Hyuuga Neji behind them. The voicetrous, thick-eyebrowed shinobi in green waved an arm.

"Oi!" Naruto greeted. "Neji! Fuzzy-brows!"

"Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun…Sa—" Lee blinked, inhaling deeply at the sight of her. "SAKURA-SAN!"

A barrage of pink hearts exploded from him as he quickly dropped to his knees.

"L-Lee-san…!" Sakura begged nervously.

"You truly are the most beautiful flower in Konoha! Please, I must buy you lunch!"

Her cheeks immediately flushed as she cringed from embarrassment. "I, uhh…"

"She's already eating, fuzzy-brows..." Naruto managed to utter, appalled by his friend's shameless display, yet somehow able to fit another noodle in his mouth.

"Then, as a gentlemen after Sakura-san's heart, I must pay for her!" Sakura quickly raised her hands. "Noo, no Lee-san! That's not necessary! I'd rather pay for myself."

"But such a beautiful women, in such a lovely kimono—" he was given a quick smack to the head from Neji and keeled over.

"Finally..." Sasuke muttered, glaring at the mess of shattered Valentine hearts on the floor.

"Simply put," Neji said coolly "you look lovely today, Sakura."

She gave Neji a rather dumbfounded smile. He barely talked to her, let alone complimented her. "Thank you, Neji." she answered with a slight bow of her head.

He returned the gesture. "Perhaps in the future, I'll be fortunate enough to be the one buying you lunch."

Naruto's jaw dropped.

"What?!" Lee exclaimed coming back to his senses.

A loud thump was heard and all eyes turned to Sasuke who had abruptly slammed his drinking glass down on the table. "I'm heading off," he announced. He pushed his chair back as he got up, forcing Neji to step back as it rudely wedged itself between Sakura and himself. The Hyuuga frowned openly at the Uchiha for his thoughtless maneuver. Sakura blinked rapidly trying to tare herself from the previous situation with Neji. "Y-you're leaving already?"

"Ah," Sasuke answered curtly, not bothering with an explanation. Nodding at the storeowner, he reached for his wallet and threw down much more than what was needed. "Them too," he instructed, glancing in the direction of his teammates. And with that, he shoved his wallet back in his pants and walked off.

Naruto jumped up from his stool and hollered after his best friend. "Haha! Thanks Sasuke!"

"Nuts…" Lee muttered under his breath. "He took my chance."

Sakura remained silent as she watched Sasuke's figure disappear. Bedpan up the ass or not, it was an unusually nice gesture of him.

"Sakura," Neji began, breaking her from her thoughts. "I was told to relay a message if I saw you today."

"Huh? Oh! What is it?"

"Tsunade wants you to stop by her office."

She rolled her eyes playfully. "Ah yes, she usually does."

"May I escort you?" Neji asked, inciting another flushed look of surprise across Sakura's face. Naruto in turn released a noise of exasperation. "What's with you guys? She's got her own money and she's got her own legs!"

She laughed nervously. "Yeah, don't worry about me. It's not necessary, Neji."

_Jeez, the guys are really getting weird this time around… _she thought as she made her way to her teacher's office. Perhaps the brightness of her kimono screwed with their retinas and incited the erratic behavior.

"Tsunade-sama?" she called as she opened the large wooden door. "You wanted to see me?"

"Sakura," the Hokage said not looking up from her desk. "I have an assignment for you—" she paused after glancing up. "Well! Don't we look sassy today?"

"I learn from the best," Sakura said with a wink.

"Naturally," Tsunade sighed smugly. "Any student of mine also learns the art of beauty and brains."

"Naturally," Sakura repeated with a slight roll of her eyes. "So what's this assignment? I got your message from Neji."

"I need you to be an in-house nurse for a couple weeks. Hatsumi seems to be having trouble with one of her patients and refuses to go back."

Sakura laughed shortly. Hatsumi was a rather large, elderly nurse that needed her patients to cooperate or she'd take matters into her own hands. She usually took care of recovering patients after they had been released, a sort of temporary caretaker. Yes, she was quite the lady: a scary, stern-faced woman with plenty of upper-body muscle. She was the one who scared male patients into recovering faster.

Well, Sakura wasn't complaining. She needed all the experience she could get in the medical field.

"No problem! So who's the patient?"

Tsunade bit her lip before answering.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

* * *

**Author's Note: **Yes, I like to draw out Sasuke's feelings of affection. This is just me, but when I read a fanfic where Sasuke just wakes up one day and realizes, 'Yep, she's the one for me!' I tend to roll my eyes and close the browser. Hints and subtleties to any cranky hot boy are the funnest to write for me. Jealousy, over-protection, DENIAL… fun fun elements! And Sakura's character… oh man, I couldn't stand her at the start of the Naruto series. But ever since Sasuke left, I've really warmed up to how her character is portrayed; she's not bitchy, whiny, or constantly gushing… that's the Sakura I'm using in this story. Oh yeah! Neji (and possibly Gaara?) will be adding conflict to the story, and the name "Hatsumi" was pulled out of my butt.


	3. Chapter 3

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

* * *

**Chapter 3 **

"Sasuke?" she repeated, eyes nearly popping from her skull in a comical fashion. "I have to take care of _Sasuke_?"

"Until his probation is over." Tsunade picked up a file with Sasuke's name written on it: "When he first arrived he had a fractured arm, a broken leg, both wrists broken, a twisted ankle, 4 broken fingers, 6 cracked ribs, 3 stab wounds, internal bleeding, second degree burns, and a concussion. All that and he still insisted on being released early…"

"What happened between Sasuke and Nurse Hatsumi?"

"Well…" her teacher began trying to stifle a laugh. "He put up quite a fight when Hatsumi needed to give him a shot."

"Really? I didn't know Sasuke was afraid of needles…"

"It wasn't meant for his arm, Sakura."

"Oh…" Her eyes widened suddenly. "OH!"

"Uh huh," Tsunade nodded with an almost sadistic smile. "In the end Hatsumi had to pin him down to do what was needed. He has a larger range of profanity than expected."

Sakura was laughing loudly until a sudden look of panic crossed her face. "Will I have to…?"

"No, no, that was just the one time."

She breathed a quick sigh of relief. Announcing to Sasuke that she was about to stick a needle in his rear probably wasn't the most pleasant conversation to have. "So what do my duties consist of?"

"Check his chakra levels, change bandages, monitor his diet, make the special healing tea I prepared… Hmm… don't let him do any strenuous work either…"

"Gotcha. I think I can handle it. When do I start?"

"Let's say tomorrow. I was going to say today," she confessed, eyeing Sakura's kimono, "but I'd feel bad. You look far too glamorous to be puttering around catering to someone's needs… Plus it's your day off."

"But that means he hasn't been checked on all day…" Sakura shook her head quickly. "Don't worry about it, Tsunade-sama! I don't mind starting now. I was with him earlier and he seemed irritated about something. Maybe an injury is hurting him."

Tsunade shrugged. "Well, it's your decision. Just do a quick check-up for today then. Oh! Sasuke's been restricted from locking his doors so let yourself right in. All the equipment and supplies are in Hatsumi's bag on the floor behind you."

Taking her leave, Sakura picked up the white duffel and made her way to the Uchiha District. Years ago if given the opportunity to be Sasuke's nurse, she would've been giddy as hell; skipping her way to his house with the biggest smile imaginable. She probably would've stayed by his side 24/7; gushing shamelessly over him and fussing about his injuries like a fanatic schoolgirl gone Nurse Psychopath. And of course, she would've completely missed the onslaught of death-glares and cruel remarks that implied she was the most annoying thing to ever crawl through his house.

She closed her eyes and sighed as she stood outside Sasuke's front door. She wasn't that type of person anymore so there was nothing to be worried about.

Raising a hand to slide the door open, she stopped immediately and dropped her arm. Young Sakura would've certainly barged into Sasuke_-kun_'s house without much thought. And even though she could've easily let herself in, she knocked anyway to be safe… and polite.

There was no answer.

Perhaps he had gone off to train after lunch?

She knocked again with more persistence.

Finally, footsteps could be heard inside and the door was violently slammed open.

"Tell the Hokage I don't need a goddamn nur—" Sasuke froze and obsidian eyes met emerald in shared surprise.

Sakura was surprised because she hadn't seen such an angry-looking Sasuke staring her smack in the face for so long. Given more time delaying his realization, she probably would've had a coffee table flying in her direction right about now.

And Sasuke… well, he was surprised Sakura wasn't a fat, elderly woman with arms bigger than his. In fact the complete opposite was standing on his front step, looking ready to duck as if the Uchiha Manor had 2 seconds left before it exploded.

"Sakura…" enraged expression quickly melting away. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm uh…" she couldn't help but giggle awkwardly, trying her best to shake the startled expression from her face when a brilliantly evil idea came to mind. Since there was no more worrying about what Sasuke thought of her, she was free to joke and be immature at will. "I'm here to work off my debt."

His eyes narrowed skeptically. "Your… debt?"

"You paid for my lunch, remember? I'm paying you back by being your own personal nurse. Now if you'll just hold still…" she said, shifting through the contents of her duffel "I'm to administer your shot."

A look of genuine paranoia crossed the Uchiha's face. "What are you getting at?"

"You'll get a lollypop, I promise!" Sakura said casually, holding up her syringe like a simple mail delivery. "Now turn around. I'm doing this for your own good."

"The hell you are!" he protested, quickly grabbing the wrist of the potentially deranged medic.

It was a dangerous amount of laughter she was holding in, and from her own expert medical opinion, it was best not to hold it. Sakura burst out in high-pitched fits of laughter, and the brief flash of panic in Sasuke's eyes faded rapidly to that of annoyance.

"Hilarious," he remarked dryly.

Upon having her wrist released, she returned the syringe to its casing. "Sorry, Sasuke…" she apologized, struggling to restrain her laughter. "I got the inside story on your last checkup. Didn't think you'd take me so seriously."

"What do you want?" Sasuke snapped, using a tone that actually meant: "I'm giving you 5 seconds before I slam the door."

She managed quickly to stop laughing. Obviously there was no cracking jokes with Uchiha Cranky-Pants today. "I already told you," Sakura said with a sigh "I've been assigned as your nurse since you shooed away Hatsumi."

"_You_?"

"Yes!" she answered brightly, making it obvious she was ignoring the ridicule in his voice. "_Me_."

He regarded her carefully before turning his back. "I don't need a nurse." And with that he disappeared into the darkness of his house, leaving the front door wide-open. She assumed, then, that his last sentence had been a statement rather than a signal to send her home. Taking advantage of the subtle invitation, she stepped in and removed her shoes.

It was her first time stepping foot into the Uchiha Manor, and it was made quite obvious that Sasuke hadn't dared to move or touch what he didn't have to since the death of his parents. This was evident given the layers of dust on some of the tables, chairs… and lamps it would seem since there wasn't a single light source in Sasuke's home at the moment.

"Sasuke?" she called over her shoulder. There was no response, but she could hear him sharpening his weapons in the next room. "Mind if I turn a light on?"

Still no response.

She sighed. "I'm turning it on! If there's some electrical problem you're not telling me about and this kills me, my parents will sue you for all you're worth and you'll probably have to move in with Naruto and eat ramen every day! EVERY DAY! And not the good kind either, that instant stuff he always—"

"Just turn it on, Sakura."

She jumped at the sound of his voice. Sasuke had suddenly appeared behind her. Casually reaching around the pink-haired girl, he pulled at the tiny chain dangling from the lamp she stood in front of. Light flushed the hallway and without a word, he immediately returned to the room he came from

Sakura smirked at his aloofness and grabbed her duffel to chase after him. The room where Sasuke sat sharpening his weaponry appeared to be his own. When she was younger, she wanted so much to step foot inside his room, his walls… to be in a place where the great Sasuke had spent so much of his time. Oh, to steal a pillowcase as a souvenir… Without all the hype however, all that was there to be seen was a single bed and dresser: a space very much reflecting that of plain toast and vanilla ice cream.

She sat on his bed next to him and began searching through her duffel.

"So why _are_ you dressed like that?" he inquired, trying to sound uninterested.

"I'm just humoring my mother. She wants to get me married."

He raised an eyebrow. "To who?"

She giggled, pulling out a pressure gauge. "Oh, there's no one. She'd just like it if I were. Arm?"

"What?"

"Could you give me your arm? I need to check your chakra levels."

Much to her surprise, Sasuke held out his arm without arguing and with very little hesitation. She wondered if it was a sign that he was finally recognizing her skills as a medic.

More surprisingly, the compliance didn't cease. For the remainder of the check-up, Sasuke remained silent while Sakura chattered on about training with Tsunade and the hospitals she worked at in different villages. He didn't even utter a single protest when she asked him to remove his shirt.

Sakura had announced rather timidly that she needed to check the bandages around his ribs. She expected Sasuke to scoff and glare daggers, but he merely cleared his throat and pulled the black material off over his head.

Now just because you've given up on someone emotionally doesn't mean you still can't find that person to be the pinnacle of sexual eye-candy. That was Sakura's dilemma as her eyes involuntarily roamed over Sasuke's chest. Yes, he was built. Not massive, but close to godly nonetheless.

And goddamn. Goddamn it all.

She chuckled to the side.

"What?" he asked impatiently.

"Don't walk around like this infront of your fan girls," she giggled. "You'll cause a riot for sure."

He glanced at her with a frown. "Yeah, whatever."

She shrugged and continued her inspection. After several minutes, she realized she had stopped speaking as well. Humming wouldn't hurt the situation, and if Sasuke told her to shut it then at least someone would be talking. Letting a sweet, simple tune slip past her lips, she continued her work.

More silence from the boy, until finally:

"Sakura."

"Hmm?" she asked in mid-song. It would be fun if Sasuke told her to be quiet because then she could argue against it and they'd be conversing once again. Goodbye, awkward.

"You're different."

Blinking her wide green eyes in surprise, she raised an eyebrow. Well this was an interesting twist; perhaps her predictions on Sasuke's behavior were now expired and dangerously out of whack. The first response that came to mind was 'Huh?' followed by 'What?' and topped nicely by 'How…?' But a smart kunoichi like Sakura knew better. Obviously Sasuke wasn't accustomed to being around a Sakura that wasn't obsessed with him; one that didn't gush and beg and whine and worship and ultimately annoyed him out of his skin.

Like she reminded herself constantly, she was a brand new woman with brand new ambitions. Of course she understood why he didn't fully recognize her. With five years separating them, the only Sakura he knew was from his past.

She smiled softly before getting up to leave.

"Yeah… I know."

* * *

**Author's Note: **I love reviews… they make me so happy :DI don't have writer's block yet, but I seem to be working rather slowly on chapter 5 currently... gah! So much to do at school! Wow the chapters seem so short after I've uploaded them... I swear, they looked a lot longer as word documents. Anyway, I have no knowledge whatsoever on medical mumbo-jumbo... by 'pressure gauge' I meant... pressure gauge...? Some sort of device that wrapped around his arm. By the way, if the characters (Sakura especially) start to lose persona within a normal given situation, don't hestitate in the verbal kicking of my ass.


	4. Chapter 4

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

* * *

**Chapter 4**

The pressure in Sakura's arms burned like mad. She could feel the energy in her body surging, charging… but with no where to go. Her chest continued to tighten as she eventually fell to her knees, beads of sweat slipping down her forehead, breath coming out in weak, desperate gasps. But there was no giving up as she summoned more chakra.

_Just a bit more!_

Tsunade, standing calmly with her arms folded, stared down at her student. "Concentrate, Sakura!" she instructed. "If you, a medical nin, were to ever get your chakra release disabled, you must be able to overcome it! Lives would be at stake!"

Naruto, watching Sakura and Tsunade's training from afar, cringed at the hardship his childhood friend was putting herself through.

"You can do it, Sakura-chan…" he whispered.

This wasn't the first time he had witnessed one of Sakura's overly strenuous training sessions. The blonde had made a point to keep watch whenever possible ever since that one session several months back left Sakura bed ridden for days.

Training as a medical ninja required a far more advanced control of chakra, and he knew Sakura could handle it. But there were times when Sakura's determination got the better of her… times when her own persistence ignored her body's own plead for rest. He had been immensely concerned during Sakura's previous fall and was determined not to let it happen again.

"Naruto," called a voice from behind.

"Oi, Sasuke…" he greeted without averting his gaze.

"Spar with me."

Naruto waved the Uchiha off with a flick of his hand. "In a couple minutes."

Scowling at having been told to wait, Sasuke impatiently joined the blonde to see what had captured his attention. He immediately recognized the figure of his other teammate. Frowning, he also took notice of how exhausted and beaten she looked.

"What's going on with them?" Sasuke inquired, folding his arms.

"Tsunade-baachan blocked the release of Sakura-chan's chakra. She's been trying to overcome it for almost an hour…"

"How?"

"You think _I'd_ know how…?"

They were both interrupted when a cry of anguish escaped Sakura's lips. She was on all fours now, panting heavily as she struggled to keep her arms from collapsing.

"Enough, Sakura…" Tsunade could be heard saying, voice softening with concern. "That's enough for today. We'll try this again lat—"

"No!" Sakura snapped. "I can do this… Tsunade-sama…!"

"This isn't good…" Naruto murmured.

Sasuke turned to him quickly, but his best friend was already running full speed towards the scene ahead. He leaned a shoulder against a nearby tree; Naruto was more than enough help for the situation, but he felt... unsettled. Kinda, sorta. Exhaling sharply, he pushed off the tree and followed after Naruto.

"SAKURA-CHAN!" shouted the blonde. "That's enough!"

She lifted her head in surprise, then determination when she saw both Naruto and Sasuke running towards her. Memories of Team 7 flashed through her mind in that instant: Naruto, loud and ambitious; Sasuke, skilled and determined; Sakura, protected and useless… the weakest link.

Never again.

They would both be there to witness her greatest feat. She had to beat her teacher's jutsu now… in front of them…she just **had** to!

And then she coughed… violently. Blood had erupted from her throat, splattering across the gravel below her and trickling down her chin - a clear indication that the pressure had begun to crush her from the inside-out. In a daze, she became fixated on a small splatter upon her fingernail before finally collapsing.

"You never listen…" whispered Tsunade as she quickly released the jutsu.

"Sakura-chan!"

Naruto reached Sakura first, cradling her onto his lap as she gasped weakly with exhaustion. Enraged, he glared up at the Hokage. "Baachan! What did you do?!"

The older women rolled her eyes and kneeled down next to them. Tenderly, she caressed the sweat-drenched strands of hair that fell over her student's face. "You did well, Sakura. You were quite close."

A soft green glow begin to emit from Tsunade's hand, healing Sakura of her ailments.

"I'm sorry… Tsunade-sama…" Sakura whispered.

Sasuke caught up then, kneeling down to help inspect her condition.

Sighing, Naruto shook his head. "Don't apologize to the old hag," he said, smirking at the unamused look on Tsunade's face. "You did your best, Sakura-chan."

"You should've stopped her sooner," Sasuke muttered. "She could've killed herself."

"Yeah!" Naruto agreed.

Giving them each a glare, she got up to her feet. "Obviously," Tsunade scoffed "if you two spent more time encouraging her and treating her as an equal you'd have a better idea of what she's capable of."

"Naruto's always encouraged me," Sakura mumbled in a daze, lifting a tired smile to the blonde.

Sasuke frowned, but saw no furthering of her comment or what implications it incurred. If she wanted to finger him for being the one who constantly thought less of her then so be it. If she somehow wanted to make him feel guilty for his years of absence then so fucking be it too. Getting back up to his feet, he stuck his hands in his pockets and carried on with being disconnected.

"Can you stand, Sakura?" Tsunade asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," her student answered quickly, wobbling awkwardly to her feet.

"Good. Regain your strength for the day. I'm returning to my office."

"Yes, ma'am…" Sakura muttered, tone noticeably soaked in disappointment. She had hoped to try for a second round.

Tsunade spun on her heels and made her back to the office towers. "Naruto!" she yelled back. "Keep an eye on the Uchiha!"

"Why?" Naruto protested. "What did _I_ do wrong?"

"Shut up, dobe."

* * *

A sigh of exasperation escaped Sakura's lips as she dragged herself towards Sasuke's house. Her body had really begun to show the effects from her morning training with Tsunade. Gripping her arm painfully, she scolded herself for not being able to free her chakra. What _would _happen on a battlefield if she were unable to use her healing abilities?

Sighing, she trudged up the steps with her duffel bag and knocked softly.

Several seconds later, the door slid open and Sasuke stood scowling at her from his height advantage.

"What are you doing here?"

She blinked. Maybe fighting Itachi broke his brain and resulted in a 5-second memory. "I'm here to check—"

"Yeah, I know that," he interrupted. "Why aren't you resting?"

"Tsk, tsk…" Patting him playfully on the shoulder, she smiled sweetly. "I'm your nurse, remember? Not the other way around."

He eyed her skeptically for a moment, and then grudgingly moved to the side.

She moved past him to once again turn on the lamp in the hallway, but not before Sasuke reached down and took the duffel bag from her grip. She glanced back at him questionably.

"I got it," he muttered.

Interesting development: Sasuke showing signs of gentlemanly behavior. Or was it signs of humanity? You don't get to throw the kunai before picking it up so she figured in Sasuke's case, it was probably the latter.

She shrugged at him and proceeded with granting light to the dark entryway. "You trained with Naruto this afternoon, right? That probably wasn't the best idea…"

It was his turn to shrug as he walked past her to his bedroom.

"_Sasuke_!" she warned. "Your chakra levels are doing okay, but you need more time to heal physically."

"I'm fine," came the curt reply.

Shaking her head, she followed after him. "I'm only suggesting," she said, as she entered his room, "that for the next week or so, refrain from getting your ass kicked, and if possible, kicking the asses of others."

He smirked at this.

"Strictly from a medical perspective," Sakura finished with a wink. "Arm?"

Sasuke lifted his arm for her as she held it by his wrist and forearm. Bending it carefully, she tested the movement of his joints.

"A lot of us don't have missions tomorrow," she said with her eyes focused intently on his arm, "so we were planning to have lunch in the field by the training grounds."

"Naruto told me already."

"You're coming then?"

"No, thanks."

She released his arm and pouted. Normally, this is when young Sakura would've started to whine and tug at his arm for submission. This would've ultimately lead to Sasuke prying her off and snarling at her to leave him alone. Wow… she really _had_ been annoying. In retrospect, she would've had a fit if someone kept insisting _she_ go somewhere even after she had politely said no.

If Sasuke didn't want to go, then she wouldn't force him. He probably had his own reasons.

The pout disappeared. "Hmm…" Sakura murmured as she got up to check his other arm. "That's too bad."

For a quick second, he shot her a meaningful look of curiosity… but turned away and remained silent as she went about checking his reflexes.

Sakura chattered on as usual, talking about anything to keep some sort of ambience flowing through the room. When she began talking about her training with Tsunade that morning, Sasuke interrupted her:

"That was stupid," he remarked seriously.

She froze in her actions. "Excuse me?"

"You pushed yourself to near breaking point. If you can't do it, then you can't do it. Don't die trying."

Frowning, her eyes fell in discouragement. "You don't… have to say it like that…"

"The overuse of chakra almost killed you. Don't do it again."

Suddenly, her brilliant green eyes flashed at him with ridicule. "What did you do after Kakashi said your chidori could only be used twice?"

Sasuke flinched slightly, immediately avoiding her gaze. "That's—"

"How many times did you use it during the Chuunin exam incident? How many times can you use it _now_?'

He glared at her then, almost arrogantly. "We're not the same, Sakura."

Biting her lip in thought, she and the Uchiha held a staring contest for what seemed like a good 10 minutes. She finally stood to search through her duffel, being the first to break from their death-glare exchange. How tempting it was to punch the boy and send him flying to the next village over.

"I'm sure you'll survive the night," Sakura mumbled sarcastically, cutting the appointment short with the abrupt closing of her bag.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I'm feeling pretty neutral about this chapter… couldn't get it to end properly, so I just ended it at that last paragraph. Currently I'm working on chapter 6 (and the reviews are a HUGE motivator) but I'm not as far ahead on it as I'd like. Keep in mind I only feel comfortable submitting chapters when I'm at least 2 ahead on my computer. Got some huge projects coming at school… I know you guys like it when I submit every 2-3 days, but don't hold me to it! If anyone's wondering about the title of the story "little piece of heaven" is a line from the song "Listen to Your Heart" by DHT. There are several lyrics I find relevant to the SasuSaku drama coming up. Check my homepage if you want to hear it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

* * *

**Chapter 5 **

_Whoa…_

Turning the corner on her rather hasty walk toward the training grounds, Sakura suddenly felt dizzy. She held an arm out against the building beside her for support as she rested a hand to her forehead.

The sensation in her head meandered from light to heavy, thick to thin; there was an uneasy feeling of deprivation, like most would feel when dehydrated or malnourished. In this case, however, there was a dangerous lack of chakra. Sakura was still feeling the repercussion from the previous day's training.

Ignoring her teacher's advice, she didn't go home that night to rest. If she had, she would've felt fine by now. Instead she had cracked open her books and experimented with different healing techniques, depleting almost all of that was left of her chakra till morning.

The motive behind this temporary insanity could be traced back to her last conversation with Sasuke. He had so bluntly stated that if she failed on her first attempt then there was no point in trying again. She tried not to let it bother her at first, but the more exhausted she felt that day, the more pissed off she became.

_If you can't do it, then you can't do it._

She figured from the tone in his voice that Sasuke wasn't referring to society. Oh no. That suggested methodology was something he solely reserved for the likes of her. He never would've said something like that to Naruto.

_I never realized what a jerk-faced, son-of-a…_ Sighing, she leaned back and began rubbing her forehead. _No, no… he has a right to his opinion. Just let it go…_ she thought in deep breaths._Let it go…_

"Sakura…?"

She immediately cracked an eye open. Standing before her was a rather concerned looking Hyuuga Neji.

"Are you… feeling alright?"

Trying to get her senses up and running again, she pushed herself from the wall. She felt slightly disoriented as she looked at the silver-eyed boy and then around her.

"Who, me?"

With a slight smirk in the midst, he smiled at her. "You're the only one within speaking range."

She quickly shook her head and laughed nervously. He probably thought she was drunk, or worse… a complete idiot. There was nothing worse than being thought of as two petals short of a cherry tree.

"Sorry Neji. I'm a little dizzy from my training yesterday."

"I understand," he said simply. "Training as a medical ninja must prove exhausting."

"You can say that again…" she agreed, rubbing irritably at the back of her neck. "It gets pretty overwhelming."

Folding his arms, Neji regarded her thoughtfully, detecting a slight hint of discouragement in her voice. "Well, don't give up. There's no end to the perfecting of chakra skills, and even the greatest users are still learning."

Sakura tilted her head curiously and blinked. "Thank you," she gushed unknowingly, "I appreciate you saying so..." stopping herself from adding, "by the way, do I know you?" when she realized that she didn't know Neji well at all. Since Sakura was 12, they had always been in the same circle; hearing the name of the other through mission stories and third party mentioning. But never were they alone long enough to actually discover beyond skill strengths, weaknesses and all the other technical ninja jargon that was associated with knowing one's alley.

"Were you on your way to our group get-together?" he asked. "It's a bit early…"

"Well, Ino and I are in charge of making lunch so I'm picking up some stuff at the market and meeting her there early." She paused. It was in her nature to be polite and he didn't look as though he were in a hurry to get somewhere. "Care to join me?"

She seemed to have caught Neji off guard with her innocent question. One's gotta love the awkward silence only hesitation can provide.

Sakura raised an eyebrow waiting for an answer. He appeared to be contemplating deeply before an amused smile crossed his features.

"It would be an honor," he said openly. "Shall we, then?"

* * *

_Whoa… You have **got** to be kidding me…! _

Sakura's footing, though regained too fast for anyone to notice, lost itself for a split second. She was suddenly finding it rather hard to stand as she leaned against a counter for support. Darting her eyes quickly to Neji, she was relieved to find him distracted in a conversation with a local. The last thing she wanted was to appear weak infront of one of the most respected names in Konoha.

"Are you alright, Sakura-san?" the store clerk asked, eyeing the way the pink-haired kunoichi gripped the counter.

She nodded quickly, forcing out the most convincing smile she had. "I'm fine," she assured pleasantly. "Could you ring this stuff up for me and in put it in my basket?"

"Of course, dear…" the clerk replied, casting her a look of concern.

Shielding her eyes from the sunlight, Sakura turned to the side and noticed it was almost noon. Looking for Neji, she stepped back and glanced around, but not before bumping into the hard chest of someone behind her.

She spun around quickly to apologize, "Oh, I'm so—" but froze instantly when a rather annoyed-looking Sasuke stood planted infront of her. It wasn't so much Sasuke that had startled her, but what was with the expression? He looked ready to scold her as if she had dented his favorite kunai.

She scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. Maybe she had… Perhaps she had been so irritated with their conversation the other night she had inadvertently kicked at his weapons on her way out. Or maybe she didn't put the toilet seat back up… guys hated that…

"What's with you?" he demanded.

She was instantly taken aback. "W-What?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

Her green eyes darted away nervously. Had he been there the whole time? If Sasuke had witnessed any of what the clerk also had, she probably looked ready to pass out. It was definitely not her intention to allow her current weakness to showcase so blatantly. Renewed by Sasuke's presence, she casually rolled her shoulder back as if willing the energy to churn faster throughout her body.

"I'm just a little tired," she shrugged, handing several coins over to the store clerk.

He eyed her suspiciously. "You tripped."

Damn. She was so sure no one had noticed.

"Slippery floor," she countered.

"You're better than that."

She opened her mouth to speak, but fell short. Now that was weird, and now _this_ was weird: she was stuck between coming up with an excuse that would send Sasuke on his way, and the strange realization that the Uchiha had paid her a compliment. Sort of. An expectation to walk properly was hardly a praise worth picture framing.

"I'm flattered," Sakura sighed. "Ok, you caught me. I'm running low on chakra. Happy?"

She was met with instant disapproval. Thankfully, he was suddenly distracted by the basket she lifted from the counter. Although, it wasn't so much the basket as it was the sudden presence of a certain silver-eyed shinobi and the way he casually took the object from Sakura's hand.

Sasuke appeared... confused by this; confusion masked quickly under irritation, as if Neji moving close during their conversation was goddamn fucking rude.

"_What?_" he snapped at the Hyuuga expectantly.

Sakura quickly shook her head. "Oh, Neji's—"

"I'm helping her out," Neji interrupted, casually holding Sakura's possession without breaking the other man's stare. Sakura, frowning glumly at the fact that Neji was carrying her things, incited a barely audible mumble of irritation. "Uh… You know, I'm perfectly capable…" she began, but Neji was too distracted by the threatening aura coming at him from the Uchiha.

"Sasuke," he acknowledged politely.

"Hn." Sasuke turned to leave, glaring meaningfully over his shoulder, much to Sakura's confusion, in her direction.

"Guess we'll see you at lunch then?" Neji called to the other boy's retreating back. Sighing, Sakura shook her head. "He said he can't make it."

"Fine. See you then," Sasuke snapped without turning.

_Huh…?_

"Good to know."

"You will?" asked Sakura in bewilderment. "But I thought you said—" And once again, like the outcome of many childhood conversations with Sasuke, she glanced around to find him completely out of her sight.

* * *

Sakura blinked absently at the tiny rice ball she was rolling around in her hands. Apparently, she had been spending a far greater amount of time on it then needed. Fatigue still weighed her down at the odd moment, causing her to zone out from whatever it was she was doing. Earlier she had taken 10 minutes just to pass a spoon to Ino who was helping her cook.

That aside, she was still having fun. And from where she observed sitting at the picnic table, everyone else was too. They had all come together on this rare occasion to just sit around and have fun. Their picnic lunch was by the training field, giving them the opportunity to spar freely with one another.

Naruto had been more than ecstatic about the location. As soon as he arrived, he immediately began challenging everyone in sight. Currently, he was practicing his taijutsu skills with Lee… and not doing so well.

Everyone was eating, relaxing, and pummeling one another for fun; just as how Sakura envisioned. And even though Sasuke announced he was coming, she was still surprised when he actually showed up. Perhaps him rejecting her invitation and then later accepting it gave sway to the possibility of him doing it again in reverse.

She wondered absently why he chose to come. It's not like he seemed very social at the moment… When Sasuke arrived, he barely muttered a greeting to the others before sitting next to her at the picnic table. Silent in trademark fashion with his hands interlocked infront of his face, he appeared lost in the throes of deep contemplation. Ino had attempted small talk with the stoic Uchiha, but was quickly shot down:

"Hi, Sasuke-kun! How are you today?"

"Fine."

"Want me to cook you something special?"

"Not eating."

"Oh, okay…umm… Would you like to spar with me later then? It'll be fun! Pleaaase?"

He snorted. "What do _you_ think?"

"Well—I mean..."

"Spar with your own level."

"_Sasuke!_" Sakura had hissed.

Nope, he was definitely not up for conversation. Perhaps he felt uncomfortable being around the people he betrayed so many years back… if that was the case, she was proud of him for showing up despite that. But _come on_! Take off the douchebag hat already. She constantly had to remind herself that only now was she able to pick up on the arrogant asshole tendencies of Uchiha Sasuke. Her childhood was spent smoke screened by Sasuke's good looks and incredibly cool demeanor, so much in fact, that he had never seemed like an asshole at all - just a badass Prince Charming.

But she was too old for this now. The smoke screen was gone.

"Ino's great," Sakura defended. "Don't be a prick, ok? Give her a chance."

Ino smiled shyly at this, but a wounded ego kept her from pursuing the matter. Sasuke had remained silent.

Frowning, Sakura continued to stare at the rice ball in her hands.

"Sakura?" Ino asked, who sat across preparing the same food. "Are you feeling alright?"

Sasuke, pretending to watch the battle between Naruto and Lee, glanced at Sakura from the corner of his eye.

"I'm fine," Sakura shrugged. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, for one thing, you've been playing with that ball of rice for over 10 minutes. I think it's done."

She laughed and placed her rice ball amongst the finished ones. "My head's a bit slow today…" she admitted with a forced chuckle.

"Sakura!"

The three of them turned to see Neji approaching the table. "How about a match?"

Her eyes widened in disbelief. Neji from the Hyuuga clan wanted to spar with _her_? Finally, some recognition! If she could manage to kick just a smidgen of ass, it would still be enough to prove her skill level.

"Sure!" she agreed, and was in the process of jumping from her seat when Sasuke spoke up.

"She can't."

Nearly tripping in midair, she spun around and gawked at him. "Sasuke…!"

Neji scowled at his interjection. "I believe it's up to her_._"

"_Forget it,_" Sasuke growled. "She's not up to speed today. There'd be no point."

Ouch. Glaring at Sasuke, Sakura felt her face growing hot with embarrassment. Why was it that when the Uchiha chose to speak it was often something utterly disdainful on her behalf? Was it the only compensation he could think for having to obey her as his nurse? Probably. But whatever it was, she was starting to think Sasuke had some irritatingly pompous views floating about his head.

Tension was now thick in the air, but before another word could be spoken, a loud voicetrous blonde interrupted the silence. "Hey, Neji!" Naruto exclaimed. "Let's go! I wanna fight you next!" And without waiting for a response, he dragged Neji away with him.

Sasuke hadn't moved from his previous stance, but smirked with some satisfaction as the Hyuuga boy was taken away.

Sakura, who held a murderous look in her eye, sat back down next to Sasuke and punched him non-too gently in the arm. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she demanded.

Knocked from his aloof demeanor, he settled his arms down on the table and hissed right back at her. "What the hell is wrong with _you_? You don't even look awake."

"That's none of your business."

Tugging uncomfortably at her hair, Ino watched the both of them argue; darting her eyes nervously from one to the other.

"You trained last night, didn't you?" Sasuke accused.

She opened her mouth to respond, but froze. Sakura's face fell immediately when she realized she had been proven a hypocrite. After scolding Sasuke for training while not in the best condition to do so, she had gone out and done just that. But still, it shouldn't matter to him what she did or didn't do. It was none of his concern back then, so why would it be now? She had an obligation to watch out for his well being, not the other way around.

She sulked. "Why do you care?"

He merely shrugged and shifted his gaze elsewhere. "You're always looking after everyone but yourself," he muttered. "Someone has to do it."

* * *

**Author's note: **Okay guys, now I really have to buckle down and do some school work! Haha boo… so the next chapter will be out after Friday. By the way, I don't know what I'm doing with Ino's character… I pretty much just throw her in so you can compare how Sasuke treats her and how he treats Sakura. Man, some of the chapters coming are getting hard to write! I have to rationalize Sakura's obliviousness every time Sasuke's behaviour implies something... or she's just gonna seem .. those rationales are getting harder to think up. Oh well… haha I trust you guys will tell me if you think her character's getting air-headed. Oh yeah! And I'm **trying** to make these chapters longer, I really am!


	6. Chapter 6

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

* * *

**Chapter 6**

Sakura folded her arms in untamable anger as she assessed the horrific scene before her. Apparently, Sasuke's idea of washing the dishes meant leaving them in a sink for future generations to find.

Shinobi: they develop complex jutsu skills, hit unseen targets, and fly through the trees… but show them a pile of dirty dishes and they'll say it's impossible.

Sighing, she cracked her knuckles and turned to glare at the presence behind her. "What. The hell. Is _this_...?"

"What?" asked Sasuke absently, who honestly didn't see anything wrong with the skyscraping tower of porcelain.

"How… do you cook?"

He shrugged, placing his hands in his pockets. "I don't. I go out."

"Guess that's your only option right about now…" She laughed nervously at the pile, but quickly clenched her fists with determination. "Alright then!" she exclaimed, inciting a questioning look from Sasuke. "I'm on it!"

She immediately got to work, turning on the tap full blast and lathering up each dish individually. Sasuke, who stood uncomfortably behind her, appeared dumbfounded by her cheerful efforts. "Sakura, you don't have to do this for me."

With the reflection of detergent bubbles sparkling in her eyes, she turned and flicked his forehead with soapy fingers. He stepped back, scrunching his face in surprise.

"Shut up," Sakura said grinning. "I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing this for the good of the environment."

She turned optimistically to the tower of dishes. Reaching up on her toes, she swatted pitifully from her height disadvantage to grab the highest plate. "Can you slide that chair over for me, Sasuke?" she asked, tilting her chin towards the dining table.

He glared. "You're kidding me."

Ignoring her request, Sasuke easily reached for the plate and shoved it into Sakura's waiting hands. "You don't need a chair," he grumbled. "If you can't do something just let me handle it."

She rolled her eyes and smirked. Clearly she had accidently round-house kicked the male ego. "_Sorry_..." she teased. "I didn't want to cause you any further strain."

"It's a fucking _dish_, Sakura."

She laughed heartily.

As it turned out, Sakura was enjoying Sasuke's company more than usual lately. Though they still had their quarrels, much like his belittling comments made the week before, the turnaround rate was improving. She soon realized that she was getting to know a different kind of Uchiha Sasuke. Of course, he had the same attitude and the same likes and dislikes, but this Sasuke was actually her friend.

It made sense, after all. During the first weeks of their reunion, Sasuke didn't completely recognize her since her attitude around him was not what he remembered. And now in turn, sometimes Sasuke seemed like a whole new person because some of his mannerisms were not what she remembered either.

Granted he was still brutally cold and nonchalant about everything and whenever possible, there was the rare moment when it wasn't actually directed at her. When they were younger, it seemed like it was **always** directed at her. And if not initiated, she, of course, brought it on herself.

_"Sasuke-kun! How about we go on a date? It'll be so much fun—just you and me! What do you think?"_

_"Hell. No."_

Ah, young love. Sakura concluded that since she wasn't clinging to his arm and begging him for dates, he had allowed himself to feel more comfortable around her. There was no longer any need to distance himself from the pink-haired predator so they had established a more mutual friendship. A **real** one. Not the kind of friendship that had been pushed onto him due to close quarter circumstances.

The difference was clear; Sasuke was acting different around her. He was more accepting, more patient… and just a tad nicer. She could only guess that it was because he finally considered her a close friend. And as such, decided to treat her as one.

Although, he still didn't talk much… and it bothered her was how Sasuke still seemed to have very little faith in her abilities. Once, she was telling him the details of an upcoming mission. He appeared doubtful and spoke condescendingly; asking whom she was going with and then hinting she shouldn't bother because he didn't think her capable:

"The team? Um… I believe I've been assigned with Naruto and Neji."

Sasuke had instantly began glaring daggers. Noticing of course, Sakura shook her head and continued to check the stitches embedded beneath his hair. "What? You think a weak little girl like me needs more protection than that?"

"That's not it," he muttered darkly. "You shouldn't even go. You'd get in the way."

It annoyed her to no end, and she would usually refuse to speak to him for the rest of the visit. She would use the time to calm herself down and refrain from pummeling his ass to the sky. Naturally, not being a fan of conversation, Sasuke didn't complain.

After that little comment was made, however, she had planned to continue her silent treatment for the duration of the next visit. She returned from her successful mission unharmed and feeling pretty damn proud of herself for proving Sasuke wrong. Sliding the door open to Sasuke's house, she let herself in, remembering that he had told her not to bother with knocking each time because it was damn-near annoying having to open an unlocked door to let her in. But as soon as she had stepped foot in the entryway, she was surprised to find it already lit by the small table lamp.

It had been a routine for Sakura to walk in and immediately turn on the lamp to rid Sasuke's house of its dark, dreary atmosphere. And, as part of the routine, Sasuke would promptly turn it off after she left.

She gazed at the simple light fixture, amazed at how the simplest task of merely having it on could feel so meaningful. She debated in her head if it was Sasuke's way of being nice, or if he merely just associated the soft glow of the hallway with her presence and did it unknowingly.

The emotionless Uchiha soon appeared in the doorway of his bedroom to answer her question.

She looked at him, and then the lamp, and then back to him again. "Thanks," she said warmly.

He looked rather uncomfortable for a brief moment, darting his eyes to the table lamp and then quickly to the floor. As if avoiding the gratitude in her eyes, Sasuke turned and retreated to the living room. "…For what?" he asked over his shoulder.

Sakura sighed and smiled thoughtfully into his back. Okay, so it was probably done unknowingly since he didn't know what she was talking about. Which meant Sasuke doing it to be 'nice' intentionally was out of the question. She laughed at herself inwardly: it _was_ a rather far-fetched thing to assume… But unknowingly or not, Sasuke was still showing signs of being considerate towards her. She could still be thankful for that.

"As soon as I'm finished with the dishes," Sakura continued, scrubbing madly at a rusted piece of silverware "I can make something for dinner."

"Don't bother. I'm going out."

"Oh… really?" she asked, pausing in mid-cleanse. "Well, that's okay. I'll just go home and make myself something."

He stared at her curiously from the doorway. "You wanted to eat here?"

Her mind instantly did a double take. Was she taking advantage of his barely reputable hospitality? She quickly regretted the assumption that Sasuke wouldn't mind if she made dinner and ate with him. Perhaps their friendship hadn't progressed as much as she thought. He probably thought she was invading his space… or worse, that she was still plotting Operation Get-a-date-with-Sasuke-kun.

"I just… I thought I might as well since I'm here," she admitted sheepishly. "But it's okay! Never mind."

The Uchiha continued to stare in silence, his black eyes regarding the pink-haired girl passively before he folded his arms and leaned rigidly against the doorframe. "Fine," he grunted. "Do whatever you want… just don't poison us."

"Really?" Sakura asked, a radiant smile taking over her features. Their friendship **had** progressed! …Somewhat. "Great! This'll be so much fun!"

Extending an arm to place yet another clean dish on the rack, she was pleasantly surprised when Sasuke took it from her instead. Without further prompting, he picked up a dishtowel and began wiping the plate dry.

"You're helping!"

"Hn," he scoffed. "You'll be at this all night if I don't."

She grinned and shook her head, resuming her dishwashing. "Don't worry, I won't stay long. I have an early mission tomorrow morning."

"With who?"

"Nobody," she replied, handing him another dish. _Why does he always ask that first…? _"A house outside the village requested a medic. Somebody there is sick, I think."

Sasuke paused in his movements. He seemed to be frowning at the newly dried plate in his hands.

"You shouldn't go by yourself," he said finally.

Her features scrunched. "Why not?"

He glared, as if to chastise her questioning. "Because I said so."

Sakura instantly shot him a look. There he went again: treating her like a ninja fresh out of the academy whilst shoving the alpha male card in her face.

Sighing, she decided not to start a fight. After all, she was a guest in his house and it was best not to turn his kitchen into a profantic, chopstick-wielding battlefield. Those things could take an eye out…

"Regardless of what you think, there's nothing I can do about it," she finally muttered. "It was assigned as a solo-mission."

He didn't say anything else as he took another dish from her. She quickly took his silence as a window to changing the subject.

"So your probation's over in about a month, right?"

"Ah."

"Kakashi-sensei has been working on getting Team 7 back together." She giggled. "And Naruto's been harassing Tsunade-sama for days, so I think it's going to happen."

He nodded. She figured he was pleased because of the slight softening of his expression.

"Hey Sasuke…"

He didn't answer, but she didn't expect him to anyway. After all, it was the way things worked: she talked, he listened.

"I hope you don't mind me asking, but… is life everything you expected it to be after... defeating your brother?"

She waited. Okay, bad question. Curiosity killed the cat, and this cat was expecting to be killed 10 times over. She wasn't even sure why she asked… maybe it was because before, in the past, when Sasuke was leaving the gates of Konoha, she had told him that revenge would never bring happiness. There would be no light at the end of the tunnel, no solace at the defeat of his torture. She wondered now if anything she predicted was true.

Sasuke wasn't responding so she instantly regretted thinking it was the right time to ask.

Constructing the right apology in her head, she was about to take it back when he finally spoke up.

"Not everything…" he answered stiffly.

"Oh…" Glancing up at him, she couldn't stop herself from pushing deeper. "Like what?"

His expression hardened, but he didn't seem to be aiming it in her direction. "It doesn't matter," he said monotonously.

Feeling guilty, she realized he probably thought she was trying to rub it in. She would stop while she was ahead. Metaphorically speaking, she was wise enough to stop poking the bear until it turned around and twisted her head off like a bottle cap.

Changing the subject again, Sakura began talking about her studies and other new jutsus she wanted to learn.

After the dishes were done, Sakura went straight to preparing dinner. Nothing extravagant of course since she promised she wouldn't stay late, but she could pull off anything with her natural culinary skills; a nice little hand-me-down from her mother.

She had half-expected Sasuke to saunter off somewhere until she called him to eat, but much to her surprise, he sat himself on the counter and eyed everything she did. She assumed this could only mean the Uchiha was pessimistic about her cooking abilities.

Oh well. She'd prove him wrong in time.

"Can you cook at all, Sasuke?"

"Only when I don't have a choice."

She giggled. "But you tend to give up after you run out of dishes?"

"Can we drop that?"

With a smile on her face, Sakura then decided to narrate her actions to both kill the silence and answer the 'what are you doing now?' question in Sasuke's eyes. She also felt he could benefit in knowing some helpful cooking tips.

Oddly enough, he didn't complain about being patronized. Instead, he listened quietly and watched with some amusement as Sakura puttered cheerfully around his kitchen.

"…Now here's the critical part," she said intensely while raising a finger. "When you're done with a dish— are you paying attention?"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her expectantly.

"…Wash it."

He laughed shortly, turning his head slightly to conceal the barely noticeable smile on his face. "Shut up, Sakura."

* * *

**Author's note**: I had to completely ignore this story for the past few days. Now I'm behind since I'm barely halfway through writing Chapter 7. Don't hate me guys! I'm just a poor little University student who writes fanfiction when she should be writing essays about much more uninteresting things. Anyway, from what I've read in the reviews, I'm thrilled you guys understand my concept behind Sakura's character. I've gone over the behavioral motives so many times that they've just stopped making sense to me. Some notes on this chapter: it's basically an assessment of how Sakura views their 'relationship' thus far. This is just so that Sakura's reactions to later events are justified. Nyahaha, can you dig it?


	7. Chapter 7

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Adjusting the heavy backpack upon her shoulders, Sakura quietly closed the door behind her. She was just leaving the family that had requested a medical ninja and felt exhausted by the amount of chakra that was needed to help them. The small house outside Konoha contained a family of three: an elderly couple and their grandson. It seemed the old man was quite ill and they had no choice but to send their young grandson to request medical help from the village.

Sakura did what she could, and with the help of her chakra, expected him to be up and about in a matter of hours.

She was proud of her efforts, but felt drained as she began her journey back to Konoha. It was worth it. The look of appreciation in the eyes of those that she helped was enough to keep her moving.

After about a half-hour, she stopped suddenly, moving a hand under the strap of her backpack to promptly drop it to the ground. Slowly, she threw a hard look over her shoulder. "Can I help you gentlemen with something?" she asked calmly.

The heavy snickers of the two men that had followed her seemed to echo from the trees. Sakura couldn't see anyone, but she had been sensing their presence for some time. She had been waiting for their intentions to unfold, but she was never the patient type in these matters.

Grabbing the kunai strapped to her upper-thigh, she flung it with perfect aim into the trees. Several curses were heard as the men had to dodge the deadly provocation. The two men hit the ground with professional ease. She evaluated them quickly from her standpoint: they were tall, well-developed shinobi from the Hidden Rain village and they didn't look friendly to her at all. Granted, they were smiling, but there was something twisted about their grins that disturbed her.

"Hey sweetheart," one of them finally greeted. His companion remained silent, but shamelessly admired Sakura's body from head to toe.

"Why are you following me?" she snapped, having no patience for perverts.

They smirked at each other before answering. "You're that pretty little nurse from Konoha, aren't you? Feel like giving us a check-up?" He laughed as if his implication was the most hilarious thing thought up by man.

"Yeah," the other finally contributed. "You wanna play doctor with us?"

She eyed them both tiredly. As smart as she was, Sakura was still oddly unaware of the attention she received from her physical appearance alone. Though her cascading pink hair had garnered interest since birth, it was only when she had reached puberty did men of all ages have a double-take. Her brilliant green eyes, flawless porcelain skin, and elegant slender curves never went unnoticed and never ceased to create an additional problem. Sakura, of course, naive as the day was long, always figured the attention came from the age old theory that most men were perverts and would latch onto any creature with breasts and a uterus. Sure, as a child Sakura believed she was devastatingly attractive, and even now she didn't mind cracking the occasional self-absorbed joke as homage to her previous self... but as she grew older and took her studies more seriously, the overall vanity died inside her.

Just _what_ were these stupid men wasting her time about?

She turned her back on them. As a precaution, she chose to carry her backpack along rather then momentarily dropping her guard to place it back on her shoulders.

"Not interested."

Smiles vanishing quickly, they were angered quickly by Sakura's insulting 'disrespect.' Looking back at one another, they smiled sadistically and continued to pursuit the pink-haired girl.

"Who said we were giving you a choice, princess?"

She didn't turn around as she snapped a retort. "Then don't propose it as a question, dumbass."

One of the men glared in fury as the other chuckled. "Little spit-fire, isn't she…"

"She's asking for it," the other seethed. Grabbing a kunai from his pocket, he aimed carefully at Sakura's back and sent it flying with a quick thrust of his arm.

Sighing, Sakura stopped and turned, hearing the soft whistle of air as the man's kunai flew clear over her shoulder and into a tree.

"Not bad," he scoffed.

Drumming her nails impatiently against her thigh, she assessed the situation before her. Kicking their pansy asses would be easy… that is, if she hadn't used so much chakra that morning. She was pretty sure she could still handle it, but with the strain pulling at her every move, getting her strength to full potential would be difficult. She had no choice but to ignore the exhaustion.

Raising two fingers to her forehead, Sakura closed her eyes till a pale green aura began to surround her hand.

Startled, the men stepped back. Obviously, they had assumed Sakura was just a stupid nurse with no other abilities besides healing… and from the looks of it, that didn't seem to be reflecting the pink-haired girl's intention.

"The hell is she doing…?" one of them stuttered.

Suddenly, she was out of their sight. They gasped in surprise.

"Where the fuck did she go?!"

One of them froze instantly when he felt a small breeze tickle the back of his neck. She was standing behind them now having moved with amazing speed.

"If you want it so bad…" she murmured before slamming a chakra-infused hand against his spinal chord.

A parched croak escaped his lips before he collapsed. Blinking rapidly in shock, he stared up at Sakura for some kind of explanation.

"I disabled most of the nerves connecting to your spine," she stated boredly as her eyes darted to the other man charging full speed.

"You'll pay for this, you little bitch!" he snarled.

Sakura dodged his fist, skidding her boots into the ground to stay balanced. The chakra glowing around her hand diminished rapidly as she began gasping from fatigue.

_Not now! _

He was coming at her again; this time with a kunai in hand. She grabbed one quickly from her pouch and blocked his attempt to stab her in the neck.

He laughed as they stood with their weapons clashed against one another's. It felt like he was humoring some kid in an arm wrestling match and Sakura was picking up on it. He was bigger in size and much stronger in the arms, not to mention Sakura strength was depleting by the second.

"You wanna play with the big boys?" he asked mockingly before slamming his head down against hers.

She hit the ground instantly from the force. The pain rushed quickly to her head and she tried desperately to keep herself awake.

"Now fix him!" he shouted, gesturing towards his now paraplegic teammate. Walking over to where Sakura lay barely conscious, he stood with a leg on either side of her lower body.

"…Or I'll do _worse_ to you, _pretty_."

There was no missing the meaning behind that disgusting voice. She clumsily tried to sit up as she pressed a hand to her bleeding forehead. It felt almost impossible to lift her head. The weight of the pain was incredible.

Enraged by her lack of cooperation, he brought his fist down… only to have her chakra-surrounded hand catch him by the wrist. With what little strength she had left, she constricted all movement of muscle in his right arm. He ripped his wrist from her grip and fell backwards, clutching his now useless arm in horror.

Sakura hoped it was enough distraction as she struggled to her feet. Her knees wobbled slightly as she tediously wiped the blood from her forehead with the back of her hand. She needed to move, and she needed to move _now_.

"You think I need two arms to teach you a lesson?" the man suddenly barked.

She blinked rapidly in surprise as he came running at her again. Her chakra gone, her mind screaming for rest… there was almost no time to react before a blur of dark blue flashed infront of her.

The man from the Rain village stopped in his tracks. "W-What the fuck! Where the hell did you come from?!"

"Get lost," Sasuke ordered darkly.

"I'll kick your cocky ass too, kid!"

"S-Sasuke…?" Sakura managed to whisper, head spinning too fast to process what was going on.

Never breaking his glare, Sasuke reached back and grabbed Sakura's wrist, pulling her fully behind him. She couldn't see it, but now he had activated the sharingan, inciting regrets from the now nervous-looking Rain shinobi.

"U-Uchiha…!" he stuttered.

The red glow in Sasuke's eyes seemed to intensify. "Don't make me say it again," he growled.

"H-Hey, c'mon man!" the shinobi laughed nervously. "I know you probably want her all to yourself, but just _look at her_! She was asking for it!"

His leering eyes moved to Sakura and his eyebrows raised back to Sasuke in a pitiful attempt to get the Uchiha to be in agreeance.

Now either Sakura shrank back further behind Sasuke, or his shoulder moved further to shield her, she wasn't sure; but either way, she was confused as to what the pervert was talking about and it wasn't helping that her thoughts kept bouncing to all corners of her brain. It was hard to pay attention.

"_Keep your eyes off her,_" Sasuke warned, red eyes pulsing with barely contained rage. "Leave, you fucking asshole, or _all_ your limbs will be useless."

Taking it as an invitation to continue life in general, the rain shinobi stumbled back and over to his teammate. Lifting the other man onto his shoulders, he disappeared obediently into the woods, not daring to inflict anymore rage from the legendary Uchiha.

Once he was sure they were gone, Sasuke turned sharply on the disoriented girl behind him. Placing a hand across her forehead to stop the bleeding, he backed her up so she could lean against the tree behind her, the sharingan fading steadily from his eyes.

"What are you… doing here…?" she murmured.

Ignoring the question, Sasuke looked around. "Where's your bag?"

Before she could give an answer, he spotted it several feet away on the ground. Removing his hand from her forehead, he instructed her to sit while he went to rummage through her medical supplies. Finding the bottle of antiseptic, he opened it and pressed it to gauze.

"Sasuke," she repeated, now more fully aware of her surroundings. "What are you doing here?"

He stared her hard in the eyes, completely at odds with the way he gingerly touched the gauze to her head. "Does it matter?" he grunted.

She hissed in discomfort. "You're violating your parole."

"They're not going to know."

Sakura watched the dark-haired boy suspiciously as he continued to dab at the top of her forehead. He seemed reluctant to explain why he was here. Within the past couple months of returning, Sasuke had been on his best behavior… through his actions of course, he didn't believe an attitude-adjustment was part of the redemption package deal. He went home when he was suppose to, he met with authorities when he was suppose to, and he let Nurse Haruno poke at him everyday… Judging from the behavior, Sakura didn't think he was at all willing to jeopardize the potentiality of staying in Konoha.

So what the hell was this? Sasuke was suddenly out galabandting without a reason that 'mattered'…? Dumbass. Yes, that was what she thought. Stupid, spiky-headed dumbass.

It didn't make sense. Not at all.

"Answer my question, Sasuke…"

It was a demand now and he glared at her instantly. The threatening aura in his eyes practically screamed 'mind your own goddamn business,' but why should she? It wasn't like he had minded his own by jumping into her battle. He could narrow those eyes till they shattered into tiny black ice cubes, but she was going to get an answer.

Sasuke must've sensed her unwillingness to back down. Breaking the stare, he looked away and began putting back the medical supplies he had removed. "I was bored," he shrugged. "I needed to stretch."

"You were bored…" she echoed sarcastically. "That's it? You're risking your future for that?"

"I don't know what you're complaining about," he snapped. "You needed me back there."

"No, I di—!" she froze in mid-protest. Okay, so she couldn't very well argue about him interjecting. If anything, she was pretty lucky he had shown up. With a dangerous lack of chakra, she couldn't have done a damn thing to protect herself as that man ran towards her.

Sasuke stared at her meaningfully. "Sakura…" he began slowly, "I know what you're capable of… but when you want to help people, you go overboard."

She opened her mouth to argue, but he wouldn't give her a chance.

"…You wanted the old man to get better, so you used up all the chakra you had to do it. You're an idiot."

Frowning, she didn't want to admit that he was right. Tsunade had warned her about it as well, reminding her that people heal naturally on their own and a medic nin only gives them a push in the beginning. There was no need to heal patients completely—it consumed far too much chakra.

Having concluded his lecture, Sasuke stood and hauled Sakura's backpack onto his shoulders. "Let's go," he muttered "I'm taking you back."

She got up steadily, her first few steps in haste so she could keep up with the retreating Uchiha.

As she followed him, she wondered absently how he knew that the patient she treated was an 'old man.' Had she mentioned it during their dinner conversation the previous night? It was always hard to remember since Sasuke's silence caused her to blather mindlessly about anything.

She shrugged it off. It wasn't important compared to the much more difficult problem that awaited: just how was Sasuke suppose to get back into Konoha…?

Stopping in her tracks, her eyes bulged when the gates of Konoha came into view… and from the looks of it, Sasuke was planning to walk right in without batting an eyelash.

She stepped forward quickly and grabbed his shirt collar. Before he had time to question her, she had him pulled to the ground behind one of the bushes bordering the main pathway. Now normally, Sasuke would've pummeled the person before they even had a chance to touch him… but knowing it was Sakura, he had to grudgingly restrain. The tiny blow to his ego would make him more cranky than usual.

"The hell are you doing?" he hissed.

"You can't just walk in!" she whispered in protest. "You were prohibited from leaving the village!"

He raised an eyebrow defiantly. "So?"

"'_SO'?_" she squeaked in anger. Her fist clenched whilst a symphony of inner demons shouted: _Punch him! Punch him now!_

"If you get in trouble…" her voice suddenly softened as she calmed herself, "...Team 7 will never get back together…"

He watched as she lowered her eyes in dismay. Sighing, Sasuke sat up to get more comfortable. With a leg stretched out infront of him, he raised a knee and propped an arm over it. The plan, if it was considered one at all, was to just walk right in and avoid as much human contact as possible. If he got caught, well then… shit happens. He'd take the fall and carry on with life after the punishment. It just didn't seem to matter because…

"Think up a plan then…" he muttered.

Pleased by Sasuke's newfound cooperation, Sakura smiled sweetly. "Okay! Just give me a couple minutes…" Leaning back against the tree behind her, she stared off at the gates and began to contemplate ways of sneaking the Uchiha back in. They had to be careful. If the officials found out Sasuke had wandered out of Konoha for no particular reason and right under their noses, they'd be pissed.

Sasuke watched her silently from where he sat. It felt strange… Sakura was there. She was by his side. She was contemplating on his behalf. And yet, as she did these things… she sat looking off in another direction.

* * *

**Author's note**: I just remember that during the Chuunin exam, shinobi from the Hidden Rain village weren't very nice. The next chapter holds a lot of explanation for Sasuke's 'reasoning,' as well as more Naruto and a little Kakashi thrown in there. Neji'll be back around chapter 9… I have a very hilarious situation planned for those of you that like Sasuke's protective side. Haha about the head-butt scene: I just finished watching the movie Red Eye before writing this chapter… I find it interesting that such an act will cause the forehead to bleed (as we also know from the famous Naruto vs. Gaara scene)


	8. Chapter 8

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

* * *

**Chapter 8**

Dumbfounded, the blonde's left eye twitched in shock at the sight before him. Passed out, and with silky black hair in disarray, a crimson-faced girl lay at Naruto's feet. Rubbing the back of his neck, he sighed and took a seat on the ground next to the unconscious figure. If he remembered correctly, those weird faint spells only lasted a couple minutes.

_Yikes…I really shouldn't hug her from behind like that…_

The girl's eyes scrunched slightly.

"Hinata-chan…" Naruto cooed. "Wakey, wakey!"

She opened an eye slightly, absorbing the soft blur or black and orange infront of her. Events quickly registered and she bolted straight up, smashing her head against Naruto's in the process. Indeed, it was a relationship where at least one of them would spend time unconscious.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata squeaked in horror. What had she done? One minute she was passed out and the next minute, so was he! She bit her thumb as figurative stars and tiny birds spun happily around Naruto's head.

"Hinata…chan…" he finally gurgled.

"Naruto-kun, I'm so sorry!" she blurted. "I didn't mean to hit you!"

He laughed and flashed a peace sign with his fingers. "No harm done!" he proclaimed heroically. "Where were you going just now?"

"Oh, well, I…" she began to stand up in mid-stutter, blushing as Naruto offered his hand. "I'm meeting with my team at the Hokage's office. We have a mission tomorrow, so…"

"Great! I'll walk you there!"

Hinata's silver eyes widened quickly. "No, no, it's okay! I wouldn't want to trouble y—!"

"Hinata-chan…" he warned with a grin. She recognized that tone: it was Naruto's you're-not-getting-rid-of-me voice and Hinata couldn't argue against that no matter how hard she tried.

Her face flushed as she smiled back. "R-Right…"

Walking by her side, Naruto crossed his arms behind the back of his head; it was his own trademark stance; the 'relaxed' kind so to speak. Sasuke called him on it several days ago and said no self-respecting ninja would ever prance around looking so vulnerable.

"_Psh! Yeah, well, It's better than standing around the way you do. I'd rather look relaxed instead of constipated."_

He had some trouble remembering the rest of that day. Sasuke had kicked his butt pretty hard right after.

When they reached the Hokage's tower, he wished Hinata luck on her mission and ran off to get some ramen for lunch. He didn't have a mission till the next day as well so he'd kill time by eating at the ramen stand. It was a good enough plan in his opinion.

A figure in red quickly stepped his way. Skidding to a stop, Naruto recognized the person instantly.

"Sakura-chaaaaan!" he greeted, but froze when he saw the rather mischievous smile on her face. "Uh…oi, Sakura-chan… that's a scary face…"

"Are you busy, Naruto?" she asked sweetly. "We need your help with something." Sakura quickly turned her back as she began walking towards the exit gate.

He followed curiously. "Who's 'we'…?"

* * *

"GAHHH!"

"Shut it, dobe."

"Stop calling me that, you bastard!"

"Naruto, keep it down! Someone will hear us!"

"But this is terrible!" Naruto shrieked dramatically. "We'll never get Team 7 back now! All because you—" he pointed menacingly at Sasuke, "…_YOU_ wanted to stand around and look cool OUTSIDE of Konoha! You could've just done that in your living room!"

Sasuke glared up at Sakura. "You couldn't have brought someone else?"

She shrugged. "He'd be the most willing."

Placing a hand against his chin, Naruto took a seat next to Sasuke on the grass. "Hmm… so how do we get this guy back in…"

"There are only two guards by the gate. It switches to four when the sun sets so we have a better chance of doing it right now," Sakura mumbled.

"How much time do we have then?" asked Sasuke.

"Less than an hour…"

"Why don't you just run in at super speed?" the blonde boy suggested.

Sasuke shook his head. "My speed's been rusty since I left the hospital. They'd still see me."

"Huh," Naruto leaned his head back as he recalled previous training sessions with the other boy. "Yeah, you're right… a blur at the least. Hey, why don't you say you weren't feeling well?"

He narrowed his eyes in confusion at the blonde. "…And so I left the village?"

"You would if you had violent diarrhea or something."

"Stop talking, dobe."

"Hey, it could work! It's not like they'd ask you for details!"

"I am NOT saying that."

"Psh! _Fine_! You don't have to get all bitchy…"

Despite the situation, Sakura couldn't help but grin at the familiarities that surrounded her. Even though the future of the team was at stake, it felt like they were already together with Naruto being noisy, Sasuke being cranky, and herself… well, mediating the two at best. Naruto and Sasuke were always arguing; one gesturing wildly while the other kept calm and reserved—the comical image forever carved in her mind, reminding her of the special bond existing outside the team of three.

There was a time when she had wished for her own special relationship, particularly one with Sasuke. In her mind, the triangle worked in such a way that Sasuke and Naruto were best friends, Naruto and Sakura were like siblings, and Sakura and Sasuke… the passionate, meant-to-be, couple of the century: insert floating hearts and pretty pink ribbons for all. Of course, it was never meant to be. In her fictitious master plan, all but the last part came into play.

But as much as she regretted her childish actions of pursing and annoying the dark-haired boy, she had accepted it as a part of what helped make Team 7. Her memories were precious and the current rekindling of their closeness and teamwork ignited a smile in the depths of her heart. Memories of them crouching and whispering, discussing plans and objectives, strategies and tactics… bitching and arguing. It was some of the best times of her life.

"Henge no Jutsu?"

"My chakra's still unstable; wouldn't pull it off convincingly."

And even though the insignificance of her yearning for Sasuke no longer existed, she wanted everything else about Team 7 to go back to the way it was. There was nothing else she'd change for the world.

"Sakura-chan…?"

Brought back instantly from her thoughts, she looked up to see both teammates tilting their heads curiously at her.

"What's that look for?" Naruto asked suspiciously.

"Nothing," she said, letting the grin stay on her face. "But about the super speed thing… that could work."

"Even if it's just a blur, they'd probably still recognize him, Sakura-chan."

She giggled. The problem was simpler than she thought. "He'll be fine…" she assured as she pointed at Naruto, "…just give him your clothes."

In unison, the two men scowled at each other.

"But it's gonna smell like such a _jerk_ after!" Naruto whined.

"At least I don't smell like a rotting orange," the other boy retorted.

"I don't smell like a rotting orange!"

"Well you're dressed like one."

"Focus!" Sakura snapped. Placing her hands on her hips, she sighed at the both of them. "Smells aside, it's the easiest way, okay? The guards will ignore it cause they'll think it's Naruto making a run for the ramen stand. Sasuke, you just go straight home while we wait for the guards to switch shifts, and we'll meet you there later."

"Uh…Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as he timidly raised his hand. "I don't get it. Am I suppose to wear Sasuke's clothes, or do I just strut in naked…?"

"_Idiot_..." Sasuke muttered.

"Wait, WHAT?" Sakura's eyes bulged at the idea. She was definitely not going to sit around with a naked Naruto for a half-hour. "You're not giving him _all_ your clothes! Just the jacket will do!"

"Oh… I gotcha!" Naruto laughed. "That's too bad. You're missing out on something special, Sakura-chan!"

Even though Sakura rolled her eyes and laughed, Sasuke seemed to scowl at this. "Stop wasting time, dobe."

"Okay, okay!"

The blonde unzipped his black and orange track jacket. Hanging it mockingly infront of Sasuke's face, Naruto grinned widely as the other boy eyed his jacket disdainfully. It was like death by orange.

He grudgingly took the jacket and began putting it on. He'd force himself to go along with this because it was the easiest way of going back without making the situation needlessly complicated. After pulling up the zipper, he looked down and assessed himself. It was a dark day for the Uchiha name indeed.

"I look like an ass."

"Hey, shut up!" Naruto snapped. "You look cool and you know it!"

Laughing into her hand, Sakura struggled to speak. "No, no… you look… uh…"

Sasuke glared at the both of them before standing up from the bush. "I'm going," he announced, crouching slightly to prepare himself.

"Okay! We'll be at your house in a bit," Sakura reminded.

He glanced back at her and nodded before running full speed toward, and then past, the Konoha entrance.

"Did they notice anything?" she whispered from behind Naruto's shoulder.

The blonde hesitated for a moment, observing the behavior of the two guards standing watch. He shook his head. "I don't think so. They looked on for a bit and then turned elsewhere… You're right! They think he's just me!"

"Awesome!" she exclaimed as the two shared a high-five. Now they just had to wait for the guards to switch their shifts. They'd be suspicious if Naruto went past them again, and this time without the recognizable jacket.

Folding his arms behind his head, Naruto leaned back against the tree behind him. "Well, I'm glad I can hang out with you for a bit, Sakura-chan. I need some girly advice."

Intrigued, Sakura promptly took a seat next to him. "Spill! Sakura-chan's listening."

He grinned with appreciation before speaking. "Ever since Hinata-chan told me she likes me, I really want to know more about her… Now I can't stop chasing her around."

"Chasing?" she laughed "Not at all. From what I've seen, I think you're being very chivalrous."

"Then why does she keep passing out like that…?"

"Well…" she tapped her head in wonderment. It was a rather strange reaction, but nothing completely abnormal. It was just hard to explain something like this to a male— scratch that—to Naruto. "Hinata's the type to be very sensitive with her feelings, so… when a lot of emotion is provoked, she gets a bit… well, flustered."

He blinked. "Huh?"

"She just likes you a whole lot!" Sakura hissed. There. Layman's terms should do it.

"Oh… hey, Sakura-chan?"

"Mmhm?"

"Did you ever pass out when you liked Sasuke?"

"Um…" Against the tree, she leaned her head back alongside Naruto's and chuckled softly. "These aren't the same, but once when I thought his head had fallen off and another time when…"

"_Sakura… thank you."_

"…he left the village."

Naruto watched his friend carefully as she turned her attention back to the front gates. He would never know what really happened between Sakura and Sasuke during their last encounter. He would never ask either… all he knew was that she had tried to get him to stay, and failed miserably in tears.

Years passed, and he had watched Sakura grow, her reverberating eyes slowly regaining their shimmer as she became accustomed to Sasuke's absence. He was back in her life now, and she remained as she was. Strong, independent…

He couldn't have been prouder.

"You're doing so well, Sakura-chan…" Naruto barely whispered.

She glanced back at him questionably. "What was that…?"

He smiled. "I said girls are weird, Sakura-chan. You get way too emotional."

She smirked and raised her fist. "I'll show YOU emotional, baka!"

Laughing, his deep blue eyes darted towards the gate when he noticed four new guards approaching. "Hey, they're switching!"

They waited till the two previous guards were out of sight before getting up and walking casually through the gates. Sakura smiled at the guards who in turn nodded their heads dreamily at the captivating kunoichi. When out of hearing range, Naruto scoffed. "We probably didn't have to go through all this. If **you** had just walked in with Sasuke, they probably wouldn't have noticed him… Haha! I bet if we just gave him a photograph of you to hold up they wouldn't notice him then either."

She blushed furiously and lowered her neck in embarrassment. "Shut up, Naruto!"

He laughed mockingly. "Too bad, hot stuff! C'mon, let's get to Sasuke's house. I'm getting cold."

* * *

Watching through a cage of silver hair, a man sat lazily amidst the tall tree branches that shaded his surroundings. Smiling pleasantly, Hatake Kakashi turned the page of his favorite novel whilst watching the amusing events unfold but a short distance away.

His two students, Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto, ran almost giddily to the residence of one Uchiha Sasuke, his other previous student. He watched with amusement as the front door slid open and an orange and black jacket was hurled in Naruto's direction. Grabbing the piece of clothing before it hit him in the face, the blonde instantly began yelling obscenities at the Uchiha boy who now stood scowling with his arms crossed. Sakura, who had taken a seat on Sasuke's front step, sat giggling with a hand resting against her cheek. Yes, it was a sight for sore eyes interestingly enough.

Sighing, Kakashi stood from his well-hidden post. He glanced back at Team 7 before leaving; the two boys had finally stopped arguing and sat with Sakura on the steps. It would've been nice to join them but he had other matters to attend to.

Moving quickly, he soon ended up at the Hokage's office. It was his plan to once again hint about the reformation of Team 7. From what he had just witnessed, it was more important to them than he thought.

"Do you need something?" Tsunade asked absently as she flipped through her paperwork.

"Just a little reminder," Kakashi said with a smile. "The end of Sasuke's probation is coming up, so—"

"He left the village today, didn't he?"

The silver-haired man rubbed his neck nervously. "Ah… so you noticed?"

Smirking, the Hokage leaned forward and interlocked her fingers knowingly. For the sake of Sakura, her own student, she would let the violation slide. After all, this was an amusing turn of events…

That morning she had been signing pages and pages of documents when the door to her office was rudely slammed open. Uchiha Sasuke defiantly marched in and she glared daggers at the disrespectful intrusion.

"_Excuse me," he grunted as he walked up to her desk._

"_What do you want?" Tsunade demanded. "If it's for leniency on your probation again, forget it."_

_Keeping his hands in his pockets, Sasuke's expression remained stoic as he stopped infront of her desk. "About Sakura... where was she sent this morning?"_

_She raised an eyebrow at the unexpected question. This was interesting indeed. Having a slight inkling of his motives, she decided to interrogate him. "First things first: why do you need to know?"_

"_Curiosity."_

"_Is that all? Then why don't I just tell you where everyone else was sent instead?"_

"_Just tell me," he ordered darkly, black eyes narrowing with impatience._

_Tsunade scoffed at his arrogance before turning back to her work. "Can't help you," she said simply, regarding him carefully from the corner of her eye. "And it wouldn't matter if I told you she was sent to help a sick old man a half hour between here and the next village via the south bridge route…"_

_He eyed her skeptically. _

"…_because you're prohibited from leaving the village. You understand that, Uchiha Sasuke?"_

_Already walking back towards the office doors, the dark-haired boy nodded from over his shoulder. "I do," he said before leaving. _

Smirking over the memory, Tsunade unclasped her hands and settled them on the large oak desk before her. So… it would seem her assumption had been correct. The stubborn Uchiha would have never admitted it, but actions always spoke louder than words. It wasn't rocket science after all… there was a very simple formula to Sasuke's request earlier that day.

_You risked everything just to make sure she was safe… How very interesting._

Looking over at Kakashi, she noticed he looked rather dumbfounded as to how he could cover for Sasuke. She'd let him squirm for a bit naturally, but just this one time, she'd let it go. Sasuke's true motive for violating the parole wasn't something she could get angry at anyway. Mere concern was justifiable. However, it would be interesting to see how Sakura would react if she ever found out.

* * *

**Author's note: **This chapter's all about different perspectives. I have a lot of fun when I write conversations between Naruto and Sasuke… although I just realized I made 2 bowel movement jokes on Sasuke's behalf. The constipated remark actually replaced another joke about being 'sexually frigid' but it didn't sound like the kind of thing Naruto would say so I scrapped it. Nyaha! I like this chapter even though there isn't any SasuSaku action… I did it purposely so interactions between the two wouldn't seem redundant. What else… oh yeah! I made the NaruHina scene short because I'm not very accustomed to Hinata's character… I could only go so far before getting it all wrong. Thanks for the reviews everyone!


	9. Chapter 9

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

* * *

**Chapter 9 **

Leaping as quickly as she could from rooftop to rooftop, Sakura made her way towards the Hyuuga Manor. Tsunade had sent her to check on the injuries of one Hyuuga Neji who had reportedly taken a kunai to the arm on a previous day's mission.

Skidding gracefully to a stop outside the Hyuuga Manor, she gingerly pushed the heavy gate open and peered timidly into the family's exquisite courtyard. She immediately noticed Neji training in the center, throwing kunais at a wooden target with the use of his uninjured arm.

"Morning, Neji!" Sakura greeted cheerfully.

He stopped in-mid throw and smiled warmly at her. "Sakura," he acknowledged. "I was hoping Tsunade would send you."

"I'm not any gentler," she joked. "How's the arm feeling today?"

"Still a little painful when I move it," Neji answered, flexing the injured arm to emphasize. "But for the most part, it's numb."

"That means the healing balm is working," she assured. Taking the backpack off her shoulders, Sakura took a seat on the raised walkway and gestured for him to join her. "If it's alright with you, I'd like take a closer look at it."

Neji nodded compliantly, "Of course."

"I won't take too much of your time. I've got a big day of training and studying myself."

"Ah. Very admirable," he commented, fixated on the sparkling green eyes that inspected his wound.

She met his gaze curiously. "What's up?"

Charmed by her innocence, Neji chuckled discreetly and shook his head. "Nothing at all, Sakura. So how _is_ the training coming along?" He paused to smile at her. "Confident?"

She pouted and laughed nervously at the question. As much as she felt Neji was a good person to get encouragement from, he was still one of the top ninjas in the village and a barer of a name as respected as the Uchihas—it was difficult to admit weakness infront of someone like him. Carefully wrapping the new bandage around Neji's forearm, she smiled back at him.

"Confident _enough_," Sakura said simply, a modest smile on her lips.

He nodded. "As expected."

After making sure the bandage was secure, Sakura stood up infront of the Hyuuga boy and raised a finger to begin the Nurse Haruno lecture. "Alright, Neji. No straining, training, heavy lifting, or applying pressure to that arm. Drink the healing tea twice a day, and if the numbing wears off before it should, which is shouldn't, reapply the healing balm or let me know. Any questions?"

"Care to train with me after it's healed?"

A laugh escaped her throat in surprise. Her last opportunity to spar with Neji had been rudely interrupted by Sasuke and Naruto. She was more than willing to accept a challenge from a highly skilled and respected ninja such as Neji. And hey, if she could pick up any pointers along the way then all the better. At the moment, her teammates weren't much help. Sasuke refused to spar with her, spitting out some arrogant excuse like he didn't want to hurt her. Naruto on the other hand was willing, but she could tell he went easy on her. _Really_ easy. Sakura didn't need that sort of favour from anybody.

"Sure!" she answered brightly.

"I'll see you around then."

She nodded and flashed a quick wave of her hand to announce her departure.

"And Sakura…" Startled, Sakura looked down at Neji in surprise when he reached forward and gingerly clasped her fingers. Lifting her arm gently, he brought her hand to his lips. Surely enough, Sakura found that she could no longer blink. Her mouth remained half-open in shock at the unexpected boldness of Neji's gesture. As romantic as the scene should've been portrayed, she was sure she ruined it by looking like an absolute buffoon.

After the brief kiss to her hand was over, she could feel her face flush a deep crimson… a shade that undoubtedly reflected the intense heat warming her face.

Upon releasing her hand, Neji smiled almost wickedly at her.

"Thank you for your concern," he finished.

She blinked. Finally. "Y-Yeah…"

Staggering slightly, Sakura showed herself out and left the Hyuuga Manor. She politely closed the heavy gate behind her and leaned against it in wonderment. That was… weird. When Neji first complimented her appearance and then made a comment about buying her lunch, she had taken it in stride. Hyuuga Neji was just a gentleman after all, right? Of course. He was older, more mature… She assumed then, that a gentle kiss to the hand could also fall in line with his normal behavior. It was a blind assumption; anything to make the uneasy feeling of butterflies in her stomach go away.

Pushing herself off the gate, she began making her way back to Tsunade's office. About halfway there, her gaze drifted to her hand. She instantly recalled the momentary heart attack bombarding her ribcage as Neji's lips made contact with her skin. While scolding herself for dramatizing something so simple and appreciative, she walked blindly into the chest of Uchiha Sasuke.

It was like a pebble hitting a wall of bricks. She would've stumbled backwards if not for the quick hand that shot out and caught her swiftly by the wrist. Without effort, Sasuke merely gave a slight tug at her arm, being enough to pull her light frame back into balance. "What's wrong with _you_?" he asked in annoyance.

She tried to shake off the embarrassment at having been caught wandering mindlessly down the street. "Sorry, Sasuke," she apologized quickly, "I just got a little lost in my thoughts."

"Hn." He narrowed his eyes doubtfully before smirking. "Don't fall off a cliff."

"No worries," she laughed nervously, flashing the Uchiha a peace sign. "Oh! Before I forget… I'm going stop by your house a little later than usual today for the checkup."

Sasuke placed his hands in his pockets. The instinct was to shrug. He had _meant_ to not care. He _had_ _not_ meant to wonder about the reason behind anything. "Why later?"

She placed a finger to her chin thoughtfully. "See there's a book of Tsunade-sama's that I've always wanted to study. The thing is, she needs it all the time so I can never get it away from her. Today she's having a meeting in Suna so she said I could study it while I had the chance."

Something about him told her he was satisfied with that answer. Though why he seemed interested to know was beyond her.

"Don't over do it," Sasuke warned as he turned to leave.

Sakura smirked and shook her head. "Well, I'll probably be done around ten o'clock so I'll just go to your house then."

He paused briefly before turning back to face her. "You'll be in the Hokage's office?"

She nodded.

"It'll be dark," he assessed. "I'll come pick you up."

"Huh? That's really not necessar—"

"Just wait for me inside, Sakura." It was practically an order. And before she could defend her own independence, Sasuke was already off and on his way, clearly not willing to put up with any protests.

Sakura placed her hands on her hips, scowling after the Uchiha in frustration. Did he have some sort of inferiority complex that commanded him to treat her childishly? Was she really that weak and vulnerable in his eyes? She frowned inwardly. It was hard to tell these days. There was always the possibility that Sasuke was just being courteous in sparing her a walk alone in the dark; their friendship was growing after all. But still, she couldn't help but wish he would stop belittling her while expressing concern… if it was concern at all. Sometimes she thought he just liked showing off his dominant masculinity.

After a good 9 hours of studying and practicing techniques, Sakura closed her teacher's textbook. Her breathing was shallow and she could feel the light sheen of perspiration across her face. Yet again, she had tried to learn more than she could handle in one day. She shrugged it off, convinced that she hadn't gone completely overboard this time.

Getting up rather shakily to her feet, Sakura picked up Tsunade's textbook and proceeded to place it back on the shelf; the one at the very top, conveniently. Her arms oddly felt like they would give out as the book suddenly weighed a lot more than she remembered.

Placing her feet on stepstool, she was about to reach the book to the highest shelf when a hand grabbed her elbow to stop her.

Surely enough, 15 minutes before ten o'clock, Sasuke was there to frown disapprovingly at her.

She blinked curiously at him. "You're early."

"Hn." Without releasing her elbow, Sasuke reached over with his free arm and took the textbook from her. "Don't be stupid," he told her dryly. He tugged her down carefully and, without the aid of a stepstool, placed the book effortlessly on the high shelf. The simple gesture made her feel about two inches tall.

"You know…" she fumed, "just because you're taller, doesn't mean you get to rub it in my face."

"That's not it," he grumbled. "You're exhausted again." He stopped to shoot her a look. It was another glare, and a frightening one at that. This time he looked both threatening and annoyed at the same time. "Stop doing that," Sasuke told her darkly.

She scowled back. "Stop doing what?"

"I don't have to tell you."

Giving up on two accounts, one: Sasuke wouldn't let it go and two: she was just too tired to argue with him, Sakura sighed and folded her arms. "Fine…"

His dark eyes narrowed expectantly. Rolling her own, she got the hint that the dark-haired boy wanted her to specify. "I'll stop practicing _every_ technique I study!" she hissed.

Satisfied, but not the type to gloat, he leaned passively against the wall, declaring his intention to wait.

"Jerk…" she whispered.

"Moron."

Smirking at his quick retort, Sakura began packing her materials. It had been a very long, strenuous day… made harder by the distracting events with Neji replaying in her mind every so often. It was annoying that her own thoughts had decided to blow the simple gesture out of proportion for her own inconvenience. Was it implying something? Did it mean something to Neji? Did it mean something to _her_…? Sheesh. A pox on stupid schoolgirl afterthoughts—none of this was probably suppose to mean anything to anyone.

She sighed as she clasped her backpack closed. Sensing Sakura was finally ready to go, Sasuke pushed himself from the wall and brushed past her, grabbing the bag in the process.

"Sasuke, it's okay I can—"

"Come on," snapped the Uchiha impatiently.

Swallowing an argument, she chased after him whilst turning the office lights off behind her. Lately, Sasuke had insisted on carrying a lot of things for her. It was frustrating as hell, but she assumed his intentions were noble. After all, she spent a lot of time dragging her butt tiredly around the village after training. He scolded her constantly and refused to let her do anything strenuous, insisting that if she did, her whole body would probably collapse and he'd be damned if he was to glue back the pieces.

"You know, Sasuke…" she had told him, "_I'm_ the one who's suppose to keep _you_ from doing anything strenuous."

"Then take better care of yourself," Sasuke replied sharply, annoyed as if speaking to the queen of idiots.

He was right after all. She figured he would probably keep doing things for her until she proved she was capable, and she couldn't very well prove that by draining all the energy she had in a day and crawling around tiredly afterwards. She had the absolute motivation to become stronger, but it was important she start learning her limits. Sasuke had taught her this in more ways than one.

Once they were outside, a gentle wind pushed strands of pink hair against her face. She brushed it away, but paused momentarily to stare at the back of her hand. Her cheeks grew warm almost immediately when the memory of Neji's lips captured her thoughts once again. Flustered, she rubbed her hands nervously and tried to shake off the uneasy feeling that continued to dwell.

Why was she so concerned with it? What could it possibly mean…? Glancing over at Sasuke, she cleared her throat, hoping to get some clarity on the situation.

"Hey, Sasuke?" she asked conversationally, trying to sound as unruffled as possible. "If… someone kissed you in a relatively _casual_ way, what do you think that means?"

He stopped almost instantly in his tracks.

"Why, who did it?"

It was definitely not the reaction Sakura expected as she stared up into the eyes of a rather furious looking Uchiha. Taken aback, she wondered quickly what it is she had said to upset him. He had figured it out pretty fast, too. He didn't seem to care about her question, or the 'scenario' she had proposed… he just wanted to know who had kissed her. The first reason to fly out the window was obviously jealousy. The ever-pretentious Sasuke was never interested in her romantically, so it just wasn't possible for a reason such as that to be valid. She decided quickly on his dominant over-protection. Although it surprised her that Sasuke would look out for her in areas _outside_ of health and wellness.

When she didn't respond right away, black eyes narrowed impatiently. "Sakura…" he growled.

She jumped back quickly from her inner ramblings. "Well, it… it was Neji. He kissed me..." Sasuke's glare intensified "...on the hand. I was at his house this morning and then he… but I don't think—"

"What were you doing there?"

With her train of thought being knocked off track by the abrupt questioning, she rubbed the back of neck irritably. "I had to check on his injures this morning," she explained tiredly.

"Has he tried anything else?" Sasuke demanded.

"What? No! That's not what it is."

"What is it then?"

She sighed, too fatigued to try iron out the details. Sasuke was obviously not good with these kinds of chats. Ino would've been her best bet. "Look, it's not a big deal. You're a guy. I just wanted to know your prospective and what you thought it could mean."

She could've sworn the sound of teeth grinding could be heard.

Sasuke regarded her silently for a moment before turning. The savage glare on his face did little to retreat alongside him as he walked off, waving two fingers that motioned Sakura to follow. "Don't let it get inside your head," she heard him mutter. "Ignore it."

* * *

**Author's note**: Sorry this chapter was late (and by 'late' I mean, it took longer than 4 days to post) I couldn't get my hands on it cause I had so much homework to do. It sucks… especially when my fingers start to itch. Nyahaha! Okay, some cute Sasuke moments in this chapter. A bit too much? I hope he stayed in character for the most part given the situations. Anyway, the next chapter is a continuation of this. Sasuke and Nurse Haruno time! Thanks again for all your comments! (I've never gotten so many reviews before… it boggles the mind.)


	10. Chapter 10

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

**

* * *

Chapter 10**

"I don't think I'll need to stay long, Sasuke. I just need to remove the last of your stitches and then you can get rid of me!" Sakura quipped in her attempt to sound cheerful.

"Fine." Sasuke snapped as he slammed the washroom door behind him.

Stunned at the amount of resentment in his voice, she shifted her feet nervously in the entryway of his house. Over the years she had adjusted herself to Sasuke's behavior quite well. When he acted the way most people do when pissed off, it usually meant he was in a considerably good mood. But, after speaking briefly about Neji, their walk to his house revealed a truly ticked off Sasuke, which can be almost unimaginable given how his persona is naturally soaked in bitter acrimony.

During their walk, Sakura had timidly tapped him on the shoulder after he had ruthlessly kicked a crate out of his path.

"What's bothering you?" she asked cautiously.

"Nothing."

"Sasuke," she began with all sincerity "if something's bothering you, you can tell—"

"Why do I have to tell _you_ anything?"

He turned away, disgusted, and she didn't say anything else.

Sakura's bright green eyes fell in memory of the last sentence spoken before entering his house. Sasuke wouldn't open up to her, and didn't see why he should in the first place. How hurtful it had been to learn that the past month they spent together was meaningless. Watching the soft glow of light flicker from under the washroom door, her hand flew instinctively to her chest as something went off inside. She clutched at the skin over her heart, flinching as something painful, something lost and forgotten, was momentarily brought to life.

"_Why…? You never said a word to any of us! Why didn't you tell me?"_

"_Why do I have to tell you anything? Mind your own damn business and leave me alone."_

She released a deep breath, letting the sharp pain in her chest subside. It would seem that no matter how hard she trained herself, and no matter how hard she convinced herself, complete and total convalescence was not made for the broken-hearted.

Leaning against the wall behind her, Sakura clutched her arms. Repress, bury, hide… anything. None of it could exist. Nothing was worth keeping. There was no point… there was **never** any point.

"Sakura."

Her gaze locked hesitantly to where Sasuke stood before her. Having been lost in her own thoughts, she didn't even hear him come out of the washroom.

She regarded him passively, waiting for whatever snarky remark he had up his sleeve next. He had pushed Sakura pretty close to the edge… just a bit more, then bam! She'd kick the Uchiha square between the legs. Let him resurrect his clan _then_.

"What I said earlier," he mumbled stiffly "…I was angry about something else."

An attempted apology? She tilted her head in bewilderment. Was Sasuke actually there, or had she suddenly gone delirious…?

"…There was just no point in talking about it, so…"

Delirious.

He paused to frown at her initial reaction. "Stop staring at me like that."

All right, not so delirious.

Giggling softly to herself, Sakura waved a hand to tell him the explanation wasn't necessary. Perhaps her annoying sensitivity had been made obvious... if that was the case, she didn't need his babying. "It's okay. Don't worry about it, Sasuke."

Folding his arms defensively, the Uchiha scoffed. "I wasn't _worried_ about anything…"

"Alright…" she sighed, not wishing to test the limits of his stubbornness that day. It wasn't a good idea to play such a game when they were both at their limits. She motioned to the couch in the living room, "Let's get those stitches out."

For the remainder of the checkup, Sasuke sat stationary on the couch, leaning forward with his arms on his thighs so Sakura could have better access to the top of his head. Though he tried hard not to show it, he was more aware of her actions than he'd like.

From where she sat kneeling on the couch beside him, Sakura ran her fingers carefully through the surprisingly soft ebony spikes, pushing the thick strands to reach the embedded injuries beneath.

Using her medical tools, she began to remove what was left of the stitches.

After a while, the silence began to make her uncomfortable. "So…" she attempted, "um… I probably won't have to come back to pester you after this. It's been a month and you're all healed up."

There was silence for a few moments. "Whatever..." he finally muttered.

"Yeah, I bet you're happy," she joked with a yawn. She was sure she had overstayed her welcome by now.

Frowning, Sasuke turned his head slightly to inspect her from the corner of his eye. "Tired?"

Covering her mouth politely, she nodded. "A bit," Sakura admitted, yawning once more. "Can't wait to go home and sleep."

What he said next, however, was more than enough to jolt her from fatigue.

"You might as well stay here."

Pulling her hands from his hair, Sakura leaned back to stare at him. Before, Sasuke would've done anything to get her out of his way: insult, belittle… fake his own death… and now he was telling her to spend the night? What bizarre forces were at work here? Given the amount of surprise, all her confusion could be compacted into one simple question: "…Huh?"

"Use my bed, I'll take the couch."

Use his _bed_? The fan girls would surely have her ass on a platter if they ever found out. "Wait, what?" she stuttered. "But—I mean… I shouldn't… uh, you know I don't want to impose! It's really okay, I couldn't possibly—!"

"Just stay, Sakura." he said meaningfully. "Don't be annoying."

Drumming her nails nervously against her thighs, she eyed him suspiciously, ignoring the snide remark he had stuck in. "It's… really okay? Are you sure?"

"You'd rather walk home half-asleep?"

"Well… no…"

"So stay," he snapped irritably. "I don't care."

"Okay, okay…" she mused as she shifted closer to him. Resuming her work, she playfully poked the side of his head. "I accept."

* * *

It was two in the morning when Sasuke slid the front door closed behind him, wondering if his deed outside had accidentally woken Sakura. Walking down the hallway, he noticed his footsteps against the wooden flooring didn't sound quite as hollow as before. Perhaps an echo could not sound as empty when where it existed was not. Back then of course, he had taken little things like this for granted. 

He stopped when he reached his room, gazing at the pink-haired girl who slept peacefully in his bed. It appeared her sleeping hadn't been disturbed. Frowning, Sasuke sighed in frustration and knelt into a sitting position. He would probably stay up all night to watch over her… just in case…

Cursing under his breath, he leaned his head back against the doorframe; a look of genuine worry creasing his forehead.

* * *

Running with bare feet and feather-light steps, Sakura tried to make her way silently across the outside walkway of the Uchiha Manor. It was dawn, and she had made sure to get up early to commit certain generous deeds. The sun had only begun to rise, and the essence of dew and night air remained—she could see her own breath as she jogged around the intricate workings of the large household. Wearing only a black tank top and shorts, items she wore under her usual attire, she tried her best to ignore the chilling air that rushed past her hurried movements. 

Reaching her destination, Sakura slid the wooden door open and crept inside, careful not to let too much morning sunlight into the darkened living room. She made her way up to the back of the couch before her and peaked over slowly. Surely enough, Sasuke lay sprawled upon it with his arms folded behind his head. He looked relaxed… cool, even. It amused her how he could keep up the legendary Sasuke-persona even in his sleep.

"Sasuke!" she whispered while leaning closer over the back of the couch. "Sasssuuukeee!"

A single eye cracked open to glare at her.

"Morning!" Sakura greeted cheerfully. "Did you sleep okay?"

He grunted an exasperated noise before he shifted his position, burying his face into the couch pillow. "I'll tell you when I'm finished," was the muffled reply.

Persistent as always, Sakura leaned over further. Strands of her pink hair brushed unintentionally against Sasuke's cheek as she did so. "I made breakfast," she lured sweetly.

"Good. Go eat it."

She sighed. "I made it for _you_."

He grumbled an okay after hearing the tinge of disappointment in her voice. "Just give me another 5 minutes."

Pleased, Sakura smiled and slapped his shoulder playfully. "Meet you in the kitchen!" And with that, she slid the door open once again and made her way back across the outdoor walkway. _I wonder why he's still tired…I thought he'd be up earlier than this…_

Humming, she knew now that she must've been overstepping her boundaries as the guest, but she couldn't get over how Sasuke generously insisted she stay overnight to avoid a late walk home. Thanking him wasn't enough, so she had a goal that morning to make him the best damn breakfast he ever ate.

Before reaching the kitchen, Sakura instinctively skidded to a stop. Paranoia began to sink in when she could've sworn she felt someone watching just seconds before. She narrowed her eyes dangerously over her shoulder to the many large trees surrounding the Uchiha courtyard. Whatever presence it was, it was already gone.

Or extremely well hidden.

Her brilliant green eyes scanned the environment, ignoring the heavy breeze that pushed strands of hair across her face. She was almost never wrong about these feelings. A familiar presence had appeared… lingering for only a second, but it was enough. She felt the intent, the eyes…

"There's no one there."

Biting her lip, she turned her head slightly to where Sasuke groggily stood behind her. "Are you sure?" she asked. "I know someone _was_…"

"ANBU officers check on me at random. They're in and out without saying a word."

"Oh…" That made sense. A passing officer was probably just wondering why she was there. A girl in Sasuke's house… what a scandal. Breathing a sigh of relief, Sakura spun on her heels and made her way back to the kitchen. "Well, I'm glad you're up! Let's go!"

He took a single step forward before he paused to glare at the surrounding trees. Glancing back, he waited till Sakura was back inside the house before he flung a kunai with one quick gesture. It soared beyond his view, but struck where it should've.

Narrowing his eyes threateningly, he turned and followed after the pink-haired kunoichi without looking back.

* * *

_Excellent aim as always, Sasuke-kun… _

The kunai thrown at him had strategically broken the outside frame of his glasses and hit the tree branch by his head. Taking them off, Kabuto raised an eyebrow in amusement and admiration of the boy's skills. What an interesting way to end their little reunion.

Having been around him for years, Sasuke was an expert at sensing Kabuto's presence. That night, the silver-haired man had barely stepped foot into the Uchiha district before Sasuke showed up to greet him, having sensed the medic even in his sleep.

"_What are you doing here?" the dark-haired boy demanded._

"_I came to deliver a message," Kabuto answered simply. Gliding a hand over the ridge of his nose, he adjusted his glasses. "Forgive my intrusion, Sasuke-kun. I didn't mean to wake you from your sleep. It must've been hard with such a distraction in the next room."_

"_What's the message?" he seethed impatiently, ignoring the hidden-meaning behind Kabuto's words. The older man smirked. "Orochimaru-sama would like to remind you of your unfinished business with him."_

"_We have none."_

"_On the contrary," Kabuto said darkly. "You still owe him. Leaving to kill your brother and then not returning? Tsk, tsk…"_

_Sasuke shrugged. "I was brought back to Konoha."_

"_And yet you remain." The silver-haired medic paused to smile knowingly behind the Uchiha, "…I wonder why… How **is** Sakura-san these days?"_

"_None of your business," Sasuke snapped. "Don't change the subject."_

"_More defensive than usual, aren't we?" He shook his head, "Fine. I'll be needing a reply then."_

"_Tell him to get another vessel. We're done."_

_The medic narrowed his eyes and shrugged, casually turning to leave. "If you say so, Sasuke-kun. Have a good night."_

Kabuto knew very well that Sasuke's reply wouldn't go over well with Orochimaru. No… his master would not let this go. Not now, not ever. He would be most enraged to learn that his Sasuke stayed and cooperated with life in Konoha willingly… and for the sake of one particular person.

**

* * *

Author's note:** I don't know why, but this chapter was an absolute pain to write. It was one of those times where I knew in my head what I wanted, but I didn't know how to do it. When that happens to me I just write out all the spoken dialogue and leave the rest till later. Nyahaha… headache. I'm hoping you guys made the connection between the flashback and Sasuke checking up on Sakura. Also, for those of you reading but are behind on the series, Sasuke's house has most of the traditional elements in accordance to Japanese architecture… and I am NOT good at describing them. Haha, boo leanne. Anyway, the next chapter is more SasuSaku development. The Orochimaru thing will be brought back a little later. 

Some notes based on reviews: I'm a little mad at myself for not getting Neji's character right. I suppose that's the closest I can peg him to if he were to ever go after a girl. Sort of the over-confident, gentlemanly type?

I was asked about lemony goodness. The thing is, I would know to write it if the time came. It's hard to predict at this point… but we'll see!

Thanks again for all the reviews! I write a lot faster thanks to you guys.


	11. Chapter 11

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

**

* * *

Chapter 11**

Slamming her pencil down upon her notebook, Sakura leaned back to stretch against her chair. She was enduring another one of her late-night cram sessions and it already felt like her brain would self-destruct from knowledge overload. Tsunade told her to study medicine books on a regular basis, a very time-consuming chore. But of course, she was a stubborn little trooper, and no textbook was too big for her to absorb.

She rubbed the back of her neck and glanced at the clock, sighing when she realized it was almost midnight. For three days straight Sakura had spent most of her time studying in her apartment. With Tsunade bombarded with work and no missions with her name on it, Sakura couldn't think of anything else to do but crack open her textbooks.

Even work at the hospital was slow; there seemed to be an awful lot of health going around. Not that she was complaining, but with Sasuke no longer needing a nurse, there were times when she just felt… bored. Naruto and Ino were both out on missions, and Sasuke was getting retrained and disciplined by Kakashi—a part of the rehabilitation progress ordered by Tsunade. The idea of reinstating Team 7 was being considered, and with the end of Sasuke's probation just days away, the Hokage asked for him to be reexamined by his former instructor and to go through several meetings with the village council. If Tsunade and the council were both convinced of Sasuke's redemption, they would restore his title as a shinobi of Konoha, and the reformation of Team 7 would follow shortly after.

Yawning, Sakura was about to pull down another book from the massive pile infront of her when she heard a knock at the front door. She frowned before standing up to answer it. If it was Naruto asking to rummage through her fridge for a midnight snack again, she'd kick him in the teeth. But as she unlocked the door, she reminded herself that the blonde garbage disposal was out on a mission…

Leaning against the doorframe with his hands in his pockets, Sasuke regarded her quite passively as she gawked at him in surprise. In her memory, this was probably the first time he had taken the effort to visit _her. _He didn't even visit her in the hospital after Gaara attacked her so many years back… painfully enough, she had gotten attacked because she was protecting _him_, but that was beside the point. There was not a time she could pinpoint where Sasuke had sought her out; even if he had to relay a message, he would simply wait until she came to him… after all, she always did.

So that's why she stood there, suitably flabbergasted at the Uchiha on her front step. Did he… get lost…?

"Hey," he said simply.

She waited for him to add something along the lines of 'I need to use your bathroom.' When he didn't elaborate, she tilted her head curiously at him.

"Sasuke, what are—I mean, it's late, did something happen…?"

"I saw your light on, so…" His obsidian eyes narrowed slightly, the stoic expression still illegible as he spoke. "You eaten yet?"

She searched the back of her mind. For some reason, she couldn't remember eating a damn thing for an unhealthy amount of hours. "Uh… no," she answered, checking the clock behind her. "Not yet."

He gave a slight nod of his head in the direction of the market. "Let's go," he ordered. "Some places are still open."

She blinked at him in puzzlement. "What, now? But, I have so much studying to do and—"

"Do I have to drag you?" Through his stern gaze, Sasuke appeared almost... insulted. He wasn't exactly used to the idea of people refusing him. But being bossed around was not something Sakura enjoyed either. She folded her arms defiantly. "I'm not hungry."

No sooner had she snapped her retort then a telltale rumble was heard from the pit of her empty stomach. Stricken with embarrassment, she giggled and rubbed the back of her neck nervously.

He smirked. "You're not a good liar either."

* * *

"…And for the lady?" 

Sakura stared at the menu indecisively, "Uhhmmm…" She had never been to this particular restaurant before and the selection was massive, not to mention expensive. As hungry as she was, she wasn't in the mood to dish out gobs of cash for something she had never even tried before.

After watching Sakura with some amusement, Sasuke took the menu from her hands and handed it to their waiter. "Get her the same."

The man nodded and jotted something on a notepad. "Thank you, Uchiha-san."

When they were left alone, she smirked at Sasuke's superiority and drank from her teacup. "_Uchiha-san_," she mimicked. "You didn't have to order for me."

"You were taking forever," he commented dryly. "I would've starved to death."

He had taken her to one of the more high-end restaurants in Konoha. Conveniently enough, only the more expensive places were open late at night, making Sakura cringe… Sasuke; however, didn't seem to mind at all. Being the sole-survivor of the Uchiha clan, he had already inherited everything… money was just not an issue while living in Konoha. He hadn't touched it during those years with Orochimaru, either so there was more than what he needed.

It was then that she vaguely wondered when Sasuke planned to resurrect the Uchiha clan. Along with killing his brother, it was another goal he had set for himself. She wouldn't pry into his social life, but for the sake of that particular goal, it'd be a good idea for him to get a girlfriend sometime soon. It was just unfortunate that given the amount of fan girls around, Sasuke still didn't seem interested in any of them.

Speak of the devil. A young brown-haired girl Sakura didn't recognize burst into the restaurant and charged at their table. Ignoring Sakura, she instantly flung her arms around Sasuke's neck and laughed somewhat mechanically at having found the man of her dreams.

"Sasuke-kun!" she squealed. "I was walking by and here you are! It's fate!"

With his features twisting in annoyance, Sasuke cringed in her death-grip and calmly tried to pry her off. Enjoying the show, Sakura giggled and made light of his disgust. "Don't let me interrupt you two…"

As if just noticing Sakura was there, the brown-haired girl gasped and looked pleadingly into Sasuke's eyes. "How could you be out with another girl, Sasuke-kun? You know you should be with me always—you **know** it!"

"No…" he seethed, pulling apart the fan girl's grip. "I don't."

Giggling, she quickly reattached herself around his neck. "Isn't he hot when he's hiding his true feelings?" she asked Sakura. "Hey if you don't mind, do you think you could leave us alone for the night?"

Wow, fan girls sure came with a lot more balls these days. Thinking it probably wasn't the best idea to argue with such an emotionally unstable girl, Sakura decided not to push any of the wrong buttons. "Uh… sure? I mean, if you want—"

"Get off me," Sasuke snarled.

Surprised, the brunette jumped away from the now visibly pissed-off Uchiha. "S-Sasuke-kun!" she whined.

"Go find something better to do!" he snapped irritably.

Defeated, albeit somewhat turned on by his sexy asshole demeanor, the fan girl laughed it off and proceeded to leave the restaurant at her lover-boy's request. "You're so cute when you're grumpy, Sasuke-kun!" she gushed over her shoulder. "Okay, I'll see you later!"

"Not if I can help it…" he muttered.

Sakura shook her head in disapproval. "You shouldn't be so harsh."

"Why do you care?"

"Well…" she began thoughtfully. "She kinda reminds me of me."

Given the odd look on Sasuke's face, Sakura quickly realized she had brought up an extremely awkward subject. Before she could retract; however, the waiter finally came with their food.

After placing the two dishes infront of them, the older man began to refill their glasses, completely unaware of the uncomfortable silence that had taken over due to his presence. Once the waiter had left, Sakura shook off the hazardous aura around them and changed the subject. "So how's the disciplinary training with Kakashi-sensei?"

"It's… okay."

"Training a lot?"

"Fifty laps at the start of each session and another fifty at the end. We have a great time," he told her sarcastically.

"Yikes…" she whispered. "I'm… I'm really sorry…" All of a sudden she felt incredibly guilty. Sasuke was going through a painfully slow process in order to help grant her and Naruto's wish of getting their team back. Not only did he spend the first month in complete lockdown, now they were training him non-stop as another form of discipline.

His eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "For what?"

"Me and Naruto wanted so much for Team 7 to get back together… I never imagined they would make you go through all this…"

"I'm not complaining, Sakura." And with that said, he dismissed the simple issue and began eating his food. She smiled softly; feeling pleasantly surprised by his answer.

After their plates were clear, Sakura leaned back uncomfortably in her chair. If she had eaten too much or too fast, she wasn't sure… but something wasn't sitting right. She tried to shift her position inconspicuously, but nothing could get past Sasuke. He smirked and shook his head disdainfully at her, "That happens when you eat too fast after not eating at all."

"I was just trying keep up with you…" she breathed. "You practically inhale your food!"

"Hn. Wait here." He got up from his seat and disappeared from view. Figuring he went to use the washroom, Sakura yawned and stretched her lower back tiredly. Studying was definitely not an option later. As soon as she got home, she'd follow her own brilliant plan of collapsing on the floor somewhere and sleeping till noon. With her arms folded on the table, she rested her head against them and barely noticed when Sasuke returned.

"Need me to carry you?" he asked in irritation.

"No…." she yawned sarcastically. "Can you ask for the bill though?"

"I already paid."

"What? Sasuke!" she protested angrily. "I have money too, you know… You don't need to do me any favors!"

He sneered and bent down to take hold of her forearm. "You really are annoying…" he whispered. With a gentle tug, he helped the scowling Sakura to her feet. Shaking her head in frustration, she took her arm back and smiled slightly at him from the corner of her eye. "One of these days I'm going to kick your ass, Uchiha…" Sakura threatened.

He shrugged, giving off the usual suffocating air of disdain. "Sure you will."

Once they were outside the restaurant, Sakura stretched her arms and felt a little better when the cool night air swept past her skin. She smiled happily; the only light existing around them now was the moon. The serenity cascading from that pale glow was enough to erase any uneasiness from her system.

She grinned at Sasuke after reaching the bottom of the steps. "Guess I should thank you then. My treat next time though, okay?"

"Hn."

Brushing past her, she noticed he had begun walking in the direction of her apartment. "Uh… Sasuke?" she asked when she realized his intent. "You don't need to walk me home…"

"You're tired," he stated succinctly. "If I'm not with you you'll walk into a ditch."

"Thanks," she muttered with a roll of her eyes. Chasing after him, Sakura eventually reached his side and walked with her hands clasped thoughtfully behind her back. "It's been a couple days since I last saw you," she told him. "Nothing else is new?"

"Not really."

"What about your meetings with the village council?"

"What about them?"

"How are they?"

"They're assholes."

Giggling, Sakura placed a hand over her mouth. "Okay, well…let's see… who have you been training with lately?"

"Nobody besides Kakashi."

"You won't spar with anyone else?"

"Only the dobe gives me a challenge." He paused. "Sakura."

"Yes?"

"Why do you keeping asking me questions?"

Furrowing her pink eyebrows in thought, Sakura tapped a finger to her chin. "I don't know… I guess… I kind of like that you're answering," she admitted.

Unable to comprehend, he eyed her suspiciously. "That I'm answering…?"

"Well, yeah," she shrugged. "I know it's sounds silly, but I feel like we've finally become friends."

He didn't respond, but his intense stare willed her to continue.

"I mean, I don't know if you considered us real friends before, but it feels different to me now." She nodded in reassurance of herself. "Yeah! It feels better. It feels like you actually don't mind telling me things… so… that's why I keep asking!"

With a grim nod, Sasuke turned his attention straight ahead, keeping with his usual laid-back manner. Rubbing her hands nervously, Sakura hoped she hadn't offended him… he didn't seem completely satisfied with her answer. "Sorry, Sasuke…" she began softly. "I didn't mean to imply—"

"Don't apologize." he said quickly. "I understand."

Smiling weakly, she rewound the conversation in her head and wondered if she had said too much. Maybe revealing that she felt their childhood friendship was a fake fell into the overboard category… but hey, Sasuke didn't seem to be arguing. It didn't matter. She was certain he felt the same anyway.

What was their friendship if not for the occasional spat-on dialogue forced out by Sakura's whining and prodding? She was just a teammate to him; someone Sasuke traveled and coordinated with as a member of his team. He was willing to protect and save her life for humanity sake, and humanity sake only.

There was no denying that nothing they shared in the past could compare to what they shared now.

Keeping with Sasuke's pace, Sakura nudged him playfully with her shoulder. "You can ask me things too, if you want."

Lifting an eyebrow, the Uchiha seemed content with her offer. "I'll keep that in mind."

Reaching the doorstep of her apartment, Sakura yawned and opened her door with ease. "I'm glad we had a chance to hang out," Sakura told him honestly, not noticing the sudden tense expression on his face. "You're going to be really busy in the next few days, so…"

Before she could finish, Sasuke stepped forward and instantly had her backed up against the doorframe. Surprised at their sudden close proximity, her voice emitted a pitiful squeak. What the hell had gotten into him? "H-Hey…!"

"Can I see you tomorrow?" His voice was suddenly hard, demanding… as if she were being interrogated. Jeez, when Uchiha Sasuke wanted attention…

The sharp inquiry took some time to register. "Yeah, of course…" she stammered. "Why?"

Ignoring the question, and as if just realizing he was overstepping his boundaries, Sasuke moved back from her. "Where are you going to be?"

With him standing at a more comfortable distance, the intense moment retreated and Sakura instantly relaxed. "Probably… in Tsunade-sama's office till dark…?"

"Fine, I'll pick you up." he grunted. With that said, the dark-haired boy turned his back and walked in the direction of his own house. His footsteps against the gravel seemed to ignite a strange feeling of unsettlement through her chest. Just now, that feeling of him being so close…

_Sakura… thank you._

She stared after him till his silhouette vanished into the darkness that surrounded. The tugging nostalgia lingering as she hesitantly closed the door.

**

* * *

Author's note: **When I'm writing a scene where the characters are eating, I avoid describing the food. Not sure why… I think I'm just bad at it. Anyway, this little date of theirs wasn't suppose to take up the whole chapter. Actually, I hadn't intended it to happen at all… but here we are! That's what happens when my mind goes off on a tangent. I've changed the rating of the story to **T**... the **M** was for upcoming chapters, but since I'm not quite there, let's make this horrible story more accessible! Oh yeah, I hope you're not getting sick of the same flashback over and over, but it's a necessity for Sakura's character later on. Again, feedback is great guys! Always let me know if people are going OOC. 

Got a lot of deadlines coming up at school so the next chapter might be slow. Definitely less than two weeks, I promise.

I'd love to make the chapters longer for you guys, but to deliver this story on a continuous basis means sacrificing the length. If my schoolwork ever simmers down I might be able to do it then.


	12. Chapter 12

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

**

* * *

Chapter 12**

"You know," Naruto scowled "if you're not going to put up a fight, I might as well go spar with that tree trunk over there."

Running an arm across his forehead, Sasuke openly glared back at him. "What's that suppose to mean?"

Sighing, the blonde stood from his crouched position and spun a kunai casually around his index finger. "You're off today, jerk. What's bothering you?"

A kunai quickly flew towards him and knocked the weapon from his hand.

Smirking, Naruto shrugged it off and got back into a fighting stance. "You don't have to have a hissy-fit about it—I was just curious."

"Nothing's bothering me…" Sasuke growled. It was more of a warning to drop the subject.

_Oh, right… **that's **convincing. _Lately there had been a strange shift in Sasuke's normally predictable mannerisms. Naruto noticed his friend had become easily distracted in their occasional activity of training and standing-around-looking-badass…-ness. Granted, Sasuke never looked like he was paying attention when the blonde jabbered on and on, but this assumption was usually proven wrong when he'd spit out a snide remark at the end of Naruto's stories. An arrogant, stick-up-the-ass kind of comment of course… but it meant he was listening.

However, the other day as they were walking through the market from the training grounds, Sasuke _really_ wasn't paying attention. Instead, the dark-haired boy was searching the crowd, looking quite irritated as he did so. When the blonde asked who he was looking for, the boy snapped and made quick work of making the innocent question sound preposterous.

Sasuke had also developed a strange hostility towards Neji and Lee. While the close circle of shinobi were hanging out several days back, Lee had started gushing about how beautiful their pink-haired teammate had become. The heartfelt swooning seemed to annoy Sasuke more than anyone else as the glare on his face began to twitch. Neji, on the other hand, didn't have to say a word to get under the Uchiha's skin. The silver-eyed boy merely breathed the same air and Sasuke scowled and analyzed him like he was some sort of dangerous insect.

He had also let his temper get the best of him. Now when Uchiha Sasuke's ticked-off, he usually just gives the victim a 'look' – the only one to have that sort of 'get the fuck out of my face' kind of charm. And if anything's to be said, it's a quick and painful death by a snarky cluster of words, and he's done with you… if you're lucky. Very rarely though does he get fired up enough to yell and snarl like a feral dog in a cage. So, on a day when they were approached by men asking if Sakura was available for the taking, Naruto wasn't expecting his friend to flip. Personally, he thought **he'd** be the one making the fuss, but it was Sasuke who began growling obscenities. After basically telling them to stay the fuck away from her, the men were already running scared.

He had found Sasuke's newfound loyalty to his teammate admirable, but he didn't have to be so… _scary_ about it.

"Fine," Naruto shrugged again. "Hey, visiting with the city council must be pretty rough. What goes on back there?" Running toward the Uchiha prodigy, Naruto swung his fist forward and aimed for his friend's gut. Sasuke dodged it easily and swiveled away, but was quickly kicked backwards when the blonde predicted his move.

Hitting the tree trunk behind him, Sasuke clutched his stomach and rested the other arm over his knee. "They ask me the stupidest things…" he grumbled.

"Like what?"

Sasuke got up to his feet. With a sudden burst of speed, he was at his friend's side and ready to slam his fist against his face. Catching the fist in his hand, Naruto gritted his teeth and slammed his other fist forward; having it caught by Sasuke's in the same manner.

"Like… if I know the importance of being a shinobi… if I know the meaning of friendship…!" Grinding his teeth, Sasuke raised a leg and kneed the fox boy in the gut. Gasping at having his breath seized, Naruto leaned forward slightly before releasing Sasuke's fist and slumping to the ground.

"Ow…" he whined through pants. "So… you… know the meaning of friendship now?"

The dark-haired boy sneered. "I put up with you, don't I?"

"Hah! Without me you'd just fall over shrieking."

"Whatever, idiot."

Naruto forced himself up and quickly swung a fist in Sasuke's direction. Catching the fox by his wrist, he meant to derail the blow and swing the other boy over his shoulder and into the ground. Being able to read the Uchiha's half-hearted movements; however, Naruto easily escaped the hold and kicked his best friend away with a frustrated growl.

"Okay, seriously! I don't know what's twisting your boxers, but get it together!"

"What?" the other boy demanded.

"You keep hesitating and you're about a half-second slow in all your moves. Yeesh, why is there anything bothering you at all?"

The Uchiha scoffed. "There's nothing, dobe! Drop it already!"

"Whatever. I'm just saying you don't have much to be disturbed about. You got your revenge, you got back into Konoha… everything you wanted!" He paused thoughtfully. "And hey, Sakura-chan doesn't love you anymore so the only person annoying you is me, right?"

Sasuke immediately froze.

"One less thing to bother you," Naruto added. When they were younger, he was no stranger to the fact that Sasuke despised Sakura's affections. The message was loud, clear, and beaten out with drums. In fact, it was one of the reasons why he truly disliked Sasuke in the first place. Before Hinata, Naruto was absolutely infatuated with their pink-haired teammate, and sure, she may have hated him at the time, but it didn't change the fact that he thought highly of her. So when Uchiha Sasuke openly rejected the girl of his dreams and treated her feelings as a hindrance, the urge to bend those spikes on his head was all consuming.

Finding nothing odd about the dark-haired boy's silence, Naruto casually began securing the pouch around his waist. "And if you ask me, she's a lot better off without you on her mind 24/7." He chuckled nervously when he noticed the rather cryptic look on Sasuke's face. "I don't mean that as an insult… I'm just saying she's moved on."

Cold, charcoal eyes stared blankly at him before shifting to the ground. "Yeah."

"So I asked Tsunade-baachan to give us an A or B rank mission as soon as our team's back, and—" Looking around, Naruto was startled to find his best friend no longer standing across from him. In the blinding orange light of dusk, he eventually spotted the retreating Uchiha against the horizon. He seemed to be storming off in the direction of the Hokage's office.

"Oi, Sasuke!" he yelled. "Where are you going?"

"I have something else to do!" snapped the irate reply.

* * *

Before drifting to sleep, Sakura had calculated how many hours she had put into studying that day. An atrocious amount it would seem, as the pile of books she had finished reading outnumbered the books she had yet to touch. 

Her entire day had seemed pretty mundane. After sleeping in, something she did rarely but she could chalk that up to Sasuke's late-night visit, she grabbed a quick breakfast and ran to the Hokage's office. Her sensei was, as usual, up to her neck in documents and mission assigning, but allowed Sakura to use her private study room for the day. Bookcase after towering bookcase awaited, but the pink-haired kunoichi was determined to plow her way through.

And plow she did.

Hours later she was sleepy and crammed full of knowledge. So much, in fact, her brain throbbed and pounded for her to stop.

More hours later, and somewhere between the words mitochondria and cytoplasm, Sakura's forehead came to a rest against the pages. 'Screw it' was the final word of judgment as she folded her arms on the desk and snuggled her head against them.

Although there was no escaping the fact that she spent an odd amount of time being tired. Tsunade had told her it was normal in the first couple years of training as a medical nin. Physical and mental strain was part of the package deal, and her body would just have to cope. It was painful and frustrating; being exhausted for a good chunk of the day was not something she could be proud of. Taking her teammate's advice, Sakura had stopped forcing herself to practice every jutsu she came across and was already noticing a slight improvement in her sleep schedule.

This time; however, she was tired because she had merely stayed up too late the night before. Inwardly, she jokingly shook her fist at the image of Sasuke.

Sakura slept pleasantly for about a half-hour as the sunset passed through the window. She failed to hear the door to the study opening or the steps approaching her from behind.

"Sakura."

She shifted slightly as her sparkling green eyes peeked out from the comforts of her arms. It was amazing that no matter what her physical state, Sakura's eyes always held a life of their own.

"Sasuke…" she whispered groggily. Lifting her head, she gazed at him curiously before remembering why it was he was there. "Oh! I'm sorry, Sasuke… You wanted to see me about something, right?"

He frowned, staring at her rather grimly while she smiled expectantly at him. Truthfully, Sakura had been rather curious about what he had to say… if he was going to say anything at all. By '_can I see you?'_ he could've just meant he wanted to hang out. Of course, she had automatically assumed that by _see_, he meant 'a brief exchange of words and/or ideas.' It was Sasuke, after all…

Rubbing her eyes tiredly, her expectant smile changed to that of slight confusion when he didn't say anything. There was something a little unnerving about his expression; his eyes seemed to be analyzing her carefully… a little too carefully.

Finally, Sasuke deterred his gaze. "Let's just get you to bed…" he muttered.

Her first reaction was to question him on his reasons for wanting to be there. Then instantly, she veered to feelings of intense guilt for dampening the atmosphere with her less-than vibrant demeanor. Telling someone you'd meet up with them and then falling asleep on the scene wasn't the most polite thing a person could do. Unfortunately, all these actions required energy—energy in which she drained away with every page she had turned.

Without arguing, Sakura moved her chair back and rubbed irritably at her shoulders. She winced when she realized her leg had fallen asleep as well.

Turning his back, Sasuke crouched slightly by her chair.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice too tired to express the surprise she felt by his actions.

"Get on," he urged with a tinge of annoyance, as if the answer was obvious.

"Sasuke," Sakura began with a yawn. "You really don't need to—"

He cut her off as usual. "You can argue with me later, just get on."

Fatigue made pushovers it would seem, for the prospect of arguing just wasn't in her. Nodding, and with her eyes half-closed, she leaned forward and rested her arms around Sasuke's neck. Picking up both her legs at his waist, he hoisted her effortlessly onto his back and stood.

"Hey…" Sakura forced out tiredly as they proceeded to leave the office. "How about we do some window-shopping on the way?"

"Shut up," he told her dryly. "Go back to sleep."

Her chin obediently came to a rest at the crook of his neck. "It's… okay…?"

"Yeah, I don't mind..." Sasuke answered hesitantly. "Go ahead."

Feeling the warmth emitting from his body and the almost intoxicating scent that followed, Sakura couldn't help but smile as she unconsciously nuzzled her face more comfortably against his neck. She wondered then, as she drifted to sleep, if this unexpected feeling of warmth and security was actually just part of her dream…

Or was it something else…?

**

* * *

Author's note: **Ah, see? Less than two weeks! Wow, is Sakura tired a lot or what? I've got to think up better scenarios… Anyway, it's a bit short (sorry), but I found it to be the most appropriate way to end Sakura's point of view in the story (or give it a break rather). Now, I may or may not do this… but for the next chapter I want to switch the language and narration so that it's all coming from Sasuke's point of view. I haven't completely decided on this yet because I kind of like how Sasuke's internal reactions are kept from being narrated. I just get a total kick out of writing from an oblivious perspective. 

Next chapter deadline: I might have to say 'less than two weeks' again… put up with me, guys! I only have 3 weeks of school left!

By the way, you guys keeping up with the Naruto manga? OH SHIEET, Sasuke's BACK! (ch. 300)


	13. Chapter 13

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

**

* * *

Chapter 13**

While in the midst of waking from a blissful slumber, Sakura stretched an arm across the pillow and felt the soft material against the back of her fingers. Her eyes instantly opened when she again, touched the pillow and the bed sheet that surrounded. The texture of the material was off… maybe not off; completely different was more like it. As her eyes adjusted to the invading daylight, she noticed that the ceiling she peered up at wasn't exactly how she remembered either.

News flash, Haruno: This isn't your bedroom.

Startled, she shot up fast and instinctively swung her legs over the side of the bed so she could sit up properly. …Or she would have if not for her knee coming into contact with what looked to be the back of someone's head.

She yelped in surprise while the poor victim growled in discomfort.

Recognizing the signature black spikes, Sakura folded her legs back under her and crawled to the edge of the bed. "SASUKE?"

"Right..." he hissed.

With the shock dissipating quickly, Sakura soon realized that she was in Sasuke's room. Having slept there before, she quickly began recognizing her surroundings. The only thing out of place this time was that she wasn't alone. From the looks of it, Sasuke appeared to have slept sitting on the floor while leaning against the side of the bed.

Had he been there all night? Her mind was bombarded with feelings of both confusion and guilt. Confusion because she didn't know how and why she had ended up in his room, and guilt because for whatever reason she was there, she was occupying Sasuke's bed and forcing him to sleep on the floor.

The last thing she could remember before falling asleep was that Sasuke had insisted on carrying her before she collapsed from fatigue. There was something else she had felt, too. Something that bothered her… But she'd have to worry about that later. Shaking the last thought, she quickly assessed the situation at hand.

"What am I… doing here…?"

Rubbing the back of his head, Sasuke avoided turning around to look at her. "I didn't want to wake you up to get your keys."

"Oh…" she mused nervously. "Actually… I don't lock my door."

He turned his neck then to glare menacingly over his shoulder. Obviously, he had absorbed her information the wrong way.

"Why not?"

She blinked in surprise at the question. "I… I just…"

"If you don't look your door, any pervert could just walk right in."Sasuke turned away and began to stand up. "Stop being so naïve—it's annoying." he added.

Folding her arms, Sakura pouted defiantly. "You're not allowed to lock your door, either. Why would I be safe here?"

He exhaled shortly, as if the question were a deliberate blow to his ego. "At least _I'm_ with you," he scoffed. He had felt it was pretty damn obvious.

Watching Sasuke leave the room, she quickly jumped from the bed and followed after him, not knowing exactly how to react to his last statement. He was either being considerately protective of her well being, or implying that she was unable to fend for herself without his presence. Whatever it was, he didn't seem to be in the best of moods that morning so she decided to keep her comments casual.

"You sat by the bed all night…" she stated softly.

There was a brief silence, until… "You're heavy. After carrying you around I didn't have enough energy to get to a couch."

Sakura wrinkled her nose at the 'heavy' remark, but continued following him down the hallway. "I wouldn't have minded if you dumped me on the floor and took the bed," she joked lightly. "It's **your** bed, after all…"

"Hn." Turning a corner, he glanced at her from over his shoulder. "Don't be an idiot."

She sighed. "I was just saying… Anyway, thanks for letting me stay over. I'll get out of your way soon; I'm suppose to work at the hospital today."

She was stopped in her tracks quickly when Sasuke turned around and slammed his arm against the wall, preventing her from moving forward.

"Lock your door at night, Sakura—I'm not kidding."

Blinking in confusion, she timidly looked from the barricading arm to Sasuke's intense stare. Was he still thinking about that?

"But—!"

"Are you going to?" he demanded.

She raised an eyebrow skeptically at him before nodding. "Sure…"

He stared down at her for a moment longer before pulling his arm back. "I'll walk you to the hospital," he said tenaciously, clearly leaving no room for argument. "Go eat something first."

"But aren't you training with Kakashi-sensei today?"

"I am, so hurry it up." With that said, he opened the door to the washroom and slammed it shut behind him, leaving Sakura deserted in the hallway. Seconds later, she heard the shower running.

Rubbing the back of her neck, she made her way to the kitchen. Why was he getting so worked up about a locked door? Even if some deranged psychopath decided to waltz into her home, she would make quick work of smashing their feeble body to smithereens. What did Sasuke think she would do? Cry? Faint? Make them tea?

Huffing ever so slightly, she threw open the fridge doors and set about making breakfast for the two of them. One of these days she'd coax the Uchiha into a sparring match and deliver a swift kick to his arrogant, frigid behind. It was the only way to pop that egotistical balloon he called superiority.

Buttering a slice of bread, she paused in her movements to sigh inwardly. Something about her anger felt forced; it was as if she wanted to feel more irritated than she was about Sasuke's somewhat usual behavior.

Closing her eyes, she reminisced about the feelings she chose to ignore all morning. It seemed so kind, so thoughtful… so...

"_Go back to sleep."_

He had felt so warm…

"_It's… okay…?"_

"_Yeah, I don't mind... Go ahead."_

Leaning against the counter, she brought a hand to her mouth, grazing her knuckles against her lips. She was being stupid. _Really_ stupid. She was letting some chivalrous gesture crack through years of hard work and rehabilitation. It was something Sasuke had probably done grudgingly; through gritted teeth and disgust for her weakness… and she was letting it mean more to her than that?

There was an easy answer, of course. Forget it, ignore it, or discard it… whatever it took. Stomp out the hopeless romantic dream harbored by the little girl deep inside. She would never win this battle.

Uchiha Sasuke was her good friend. Plain and simple. If he ever found a woman to love, she would be there to wish him all the happiness he deserved.

Pleased with her thoughts, she laid out Sasuke's breakfast and ate her own quickly. Halfway through, it finally occurred to her that she had merely rolled out of bed without glancing at a single mirror. She used a piece of silverware to assess her appearance and noticed that her forehead protector was missing. Ruffling a hand through her pink tresses, she frowned while trying to remember when she had taken it off. Or perhaps Sasuke had removed it for her…? Finishing her breakfast, she moved quickly back to the Sasuke's room to check if that was the case. The ninja headband was a cherished accessory—not knowing where it was filled her with worry.

In her careless impetuosity however, Sakura barely had time to react as she hurled into the room and bashed right into Sasuke. A very **shirtless** Sasuke, one might add. He was only wearing a pair of black shorts as she collided into his bare, muscular chest. Obviously caught off guard, the dark-haired boy instinctively wrapped an arm around her waist, while using the other to cushion their landing.

Not exactly sure what had just happened after hitting the floor, Sakura blinked rapidly and felt her lashes caressing against the chest she was clinging to. Her cheeks immediately flushed as she propped herself up and stared down into Sasuke's disapproving face.

"Way to go…" the boy mumbled, trying his best to ignore the fact that the pink-haired kunoichi was straddling his hips.

"I'm so sorry!" she stammered. "I was looking for my forehead protector, and—"

"On the dresser." Sasuke informed. "Do you mind...?"

Her cheeks burned when she looked down and finally noticed how intimately positioned they were… even more so when she saw her hands were laid flat on his abdominal muscles. Flinching, she took her hands back and blurted out the first thing that came to mind: "B-Breakfast…!"

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What?"

She smacked herself mentally and shook her head. "I mean, I made you breakfast! I-It's on the table."

Onyx eyes watched her incredulously before he spoke again. "Thanks," he said slowly. "But it would help if you got off, Sakura." At that moment, his eyes darted away as his legs shifted awkwardly beneath her. He was starting to feel _uncomfortable. _The need for a cold shower was suddenly in the works. "Uh… get off… seriously…"

"Huh? Oh right, I'm heavy!" she giggled as she moved off him. "Sorry!"

Getting up with incredible speed, Sasuke reached over to the nightstand and grabbed Sakura's forehead protector. "Here," he said as he shoved it into her hands. "Go wait for me in the kitchen."

Keeping a smile on her face, she nodded and bolted for the hallway, tying the headband under her hair as she did so. Sakura had learned that the only way to get over a horrific embarrassment was to just laugh it off and treat it like it was no bid deal. It really wasn't after all. So what if she had seen Uchiha Sasuke in all his damp, shirtless glory? She had seen it before, minus the damp, and her blushing was only human. She was sure Sasuke had taken it in stride as well until she heard the washroom door slam shut again.

Skidding to a stop, she listened carefully as the sound of running water could be heard once more from behind the door.

_He's taking another shower…?_

* * *

"Sakura!" 

She turned at the sound of her name and smiled brightly when she saw Neji approaching. Sasuke, on the hand, looked less than pleased and displayed it openly through narrowed eyes and gritted teeth. Clearly, after hearing how he had kissed Sakura's hand, he didn't trust the Hyuuga boy and was making sure to keep Sakura within close proximity. Shoving his hands casually into his pockets, he stayed rooted by her side as Neji walked up to them.

"Good morning, Neji!" Sakura greeted cheerfully.

Though looking as smug and confident as ever, Neji still had a thick bandage wrapped around his arm. His injury still hadn't completely healed.

"Pleasure to see you, Sakura…" he paused to nod tersely at her escort. "Sasuke."

Cold, onyx eyes merely stared him down in response.

"I'm glad I bumped into you," Neji continued, ignoring the hailstorm of murderous intent from the Uchiha. "There seems to be a bit of bruising around my arm. Perhaps the last nurse who treated me wrapped it too tight?"

Worry crossing her features, Sakura stepped forward and gently took hold of his forearm. "Hmm… maybe… I'd better change it again just to be safe." Gesturing to the small stone ledge beside them, she motioned for him to sit.

Neji held out his arm for her and smirked up at the other boy who didn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. "Don't let us keep you, Sasuke," he said casually.

As if just remembering he was there, Sakura looked up from searching through her backpack. "Oh! Yeah, Sasuke you don't have to stay! I'm sure Kakashi-sensei's waiting for you, so…"

"I'll wait." he announced defiantly.

She cast her teammate a curious glance before resuming her search for bandages. "Ok, sure… if you want…"

Neji continued to smirk as he evaluated the Uchiha from the corner of his eye. He was wise enough to know that the other boy was clearly agitated by his presence. How rewarding… the great Uchiha genius considered him a threat.

Although he thoroughly enjoyed ruffling the prodigy's feathers, Neji did have a considerably innocent agenda at hand. Haruno Sakura was a great mystery to the young men of the village. She was sweet, beautiful, talented and funny. How on God's green earth was this girl still unattached? It seemed she had plenty of guy friends but no _boyfriends_, and according to past observations, the only man she had ever been interested in was Sasuke.

_Uchiha Sasuke…_ he thought with a raised eyebrow. _What a fool._

What a fool, indeed. He had finally come around to be Sakura's knight in shining armor when she had already given up being the damsel. For someone with excellent proficiency and coordination, he sure had horrible timing. Whatever the case, it was of no concern to the Hyuuga. He was not about to give up just because some pompous imbecile knew how to do everything except get the girl. In his very honest opinion, Sasuke **had** his chance.

"Thank you, Sakura," he said as she gingerly re-wrapped his arm. "I feel more at ease when you're my nurse."

She giggled. "Well, I'm glad! If you want, I could stop by sometime this week and examine it more thoroughly?"

Sasuke immediately tensed; Neji noticed it easily as he tried his best to hide the amused expression that tugged at his features.

"Anytime would be great," he answered, and was quickly given the deadliest glare known to man from the visibly pissed-off Uchiha. He was testing the other boy's limits and probably putting his own life in danger by doing so… but at the same time, it was a hell of a lot of fun.

Sasuke was still looking calm and composed, emphasizing an air of disconnection by leaning back with his hands in his pockets. A pitiful attempt, in Neji's opinion. Upon closer inspection, the boy's muscles were clenched while his foot dug against the gravel with impatience… and one could definitely not miss the hard look that burned behind his cage of black bangs.

It seemed the genius wanted to interject, but could not do so because Sakura had been the one to propose the infuriating topic of choice. Judging from the amount of tension, Neji could assume that if **he** had been the one to suggest Sakura stop by for a checkup, Sasuke would've snapped his neck in two by now.

What a fun and deadly game to play.

"Alright, no problem then!" Sakura said cheerfully. Putting her medical supplies back in her bag, she stood. "Probably sometime this week, okay?"

He nodded with a grin. "Looking forward to it."

Again, the Uchiha sent him a look that blatantly told him to "shut the hell up already."

Completely oblivious to the psychological warfare taking place, Sakura gave a gentle tug to Sasuke's arm. "Let's go?"

"Ah." Frowning one last time at the Hyuuga boy, he turned and followed after his pink-haired teammate.

"I'll see you later, Neji!" Sakura yelled back. She had barely finished waving her goodbye before Sasuke spat out his annoyance. "For what? You already fixed his arm. Now he's just wasting your time."

"Yeah," she said casually, giving him a playful poke to the ribs. "Just like you did for a month."

"At least my injuries were real."

Shaking her head, she sighed. "Okay, I don't get it. What's that suppose to mean?"

He shrugged. "I don't trust him, that's all."

It was his intuitive reasoning for everything and something about that reply didn't sit well with her this time. "Fine," she snapped. "Go ahead and think that of him just like you do everyone else."

Why couldn't he just let down his guard, even if for a mere couple seconds? Why couldn't he just embrace humanity and all the happiness that it carried? Sasuke still refused to depend on others, to _need_ others… Was it really so difficult? So painful and unnatural? He fought so hard to rid his life of the demon that destroyed it, and with that accomplished, he still refused to be at peace.

Sasuke didn't seem too stunned by her remark, but he didn't say anything back either. Keeping two steps infront of him, she could feel his penetrating stare burn holes into her back. A couple more minutes passed until…

"I trust _you_."

She stopped, and he in turn did the same. Turning around, her gaze was instantly transfixed within the perpetual intensity from Sasuke's eyes. He didn't say anything more… he didn't want to.

With an unreadable expression, she opened her mouth to speak.

"SASUKE!" an angry voice bellowed.

They both jumped back to see Kakashi standing before them. Narrowing his half-lidded eye in irritation, he wagged his finger at Sasuke. "You should know I don't tolerate truancy."

"Hn."

"20 extra laps around the village!" he paused. "Oh, Sakura!"

Having been lost in the previous situation, she blinked rapidly and tried to collect herself. "Y-yes?"

"The Hokage wants to see you right away. You have a mission."

**

* * *

Author's note:** Yes, Neji is the only one who 'gets it.' Woo-hoo! And shirtless Sasuke needed a cold shower—I'm so bad. Anyway, I've decided against Sasuke's perspective… for now. For this I thought it would be neat to view Sasuke's behavior from Neji's point of view. I don't know if it's clear, but even though he enjoys torturing Sasuke, Neji really does like Sakura. Also, thank you **Tami** for pointing out some of my stupid mistakes--except the word 'profantic'.. haha it's not a real word, but I like it. 

A week and a half left of school. Oh god, I'm dying!

If anyone wants to know where to read chapters from the Naruto manga, I just download them from narutofan dot com. It's free, but you need an account. Anyway, chapter 301 came out recently. SHOW SASUKE'S FACE, DAMNIT! Quench my lustful thirst!

Next chapter: less than two weeks (it helps if I make my deadlines public… I'll do it no matter what this way. Nothing can stop me!)


	14. Chapter 14

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

* * *

**Chapter 14**

"Tsunade-sama!" Sakura announced as she burst through the office doors. "You have a mission for—!" She stopped when she noticed Tsunade's assistant shushing her from the corner of her eye.

"Shizune-san…?"

Rushing to her side, Shizune brought a hand up to Sakura's ear. "Shh, Sakura-san… she's been more overloaded than usual lately."

Cringing, Sakura whispered back. "Should we get her some sake?"

"I can hear you!" snapped a voice from the other end of the room.

Laughing nervously, the pink-haired kunoichi approached her mentor's desk. "Just worried about your wrinkles, Tsunade-sama."

Ah, the bitter life of a Hokage. Power, authority… and plenty of reading material it would seem. If Naruto ever made it to being the next, he was in for a rude awakening. The loud fox boy could barely stay put in the village, let alone cramped up inside an office.

The Hokage exhaled loudly with disgust. "Whenever I get one pile out of the way, six new ones are dumped infront of me!"

Pouting, Sakura's eyes fell in disappointment. "I guess teaching me a new jutsu later is out of the question?"

"One step forward, two steps back..." the blonde woman mumbled, staring at the piles on her desk. She quickly shook her head with a defeated smile. "I'm afraid not, but you have your hands full today anyway. There was a message sent here requesting your services specifically. It's uh…" Tsunade trailed off to shift through the mounds of paper, "…it's that old man and his family outside the village again. You remember how to get there?"

"Oh yeah, of course. Was there any mention on what the issue was?"

"Probably," the Hokage sighed. "I don't have time to look. I'm sure it's just a quick check-up and then they'll send you on your way."

"Okay," Sakura replied, waving an arm as she turned to exit the room. "Remember to drink your sake, Tsunade-sama!"

"Right, right…"

Closing the office door, she placed a hand to her chin in recollection of where the old man lived. It had been quite some time since she'd last been there, but she remembered the occasion quite vividly since the dilemma of sneaking Sasuke back into the village had occurred. Speaking of which…

"Well?"

She jumped in surprise when she noticed the Uchiha was leaning against one of the office doors. Arms folded, the irritatingly stoic expression eyed her expectantly.

"Sasuke!" she hissed. "What are you doing here?!"

He narrowed an eyebrow with annoyance. Obviously, he had little patience when his questions were ignored.

"What's the mission?" he repeated with added clarity.

An exasperated sigh escaped her as she rubbed the back of her neck. Answers first, questions later with this one.

"Solo-mission. I'm going back to the old man's house outside the village."

He snorted incredulously. "Why?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "He's an old man. He must be sick again." Her green eyes suddenly darted around with realization. "Hey! Aren't you suppose to be running laps?"

"Sure," he smirked. "I'll get back to that when Kakashi looks up from his book."

She giggled. "Guess you've got plenty of time." Sakura's laughter fell short however, when she remembered their previous conversation early that morning. It wasn't really a conversation now that she thought of it. Sasuke had openly confessed something she thought he never would. Being his teammate and childhood acquaintance, she had safely assumed that Sasuke trusted her. If he didn't, then Team 7 would've fallen to ruins years ago. But just _hearing_ him say it… and with no one forcing him to either.

"_I trust **you**."_

Sakura had meant to say something back, but Kakashi had burst forth and bamboozled her window of opportunity. She hadn't said a word in response and was hoping he hadn't taken any offense.

Sasuke pushed himself off the wall, regarding her with a slight tilt of his chin towards the hallway's exit.

Clearing her throat with determination, she decided now was as good a time as any.

"Sasuke…" she began timidly, walking closely beside him.

He glanced her way quickly. "What?"

"Thank you for saying that… I mean, before…"

An odd look crossed his features, and for a moment it looked as though Sasuke had no idea what she was talking about. Seconds later, however, she caught a brief flash of clarity reflecting from his reserved, charcoal eyes.

"It's just a fact," he explained. "There's no need to thank me for it."

"Yeah," she laughed shortly, working a hand nervously through her hair. "I guess you're right. But… just so you know…"

The silence between pauses seemed thicker than usual.

"…I trust you too, Sasuke. I do."

She waited. Any minute now he would scoff and tell her to stop getting so emotional over such insignificant matters. It was probably embarrassing him to no end; or worse, scarring him for life against revealing anything that remotely exposed his vulnerability.

Just a couple more seconds of silence and she planned to spin on her heels and run like a deer. Naturally, she would mask this under a friendly goodbye and announce her departure for the mission.

"Sakura," Sasuke said finally. "You told me… I could ask you things if I wanted."

There's an interesting amount of time that passes before a person realizes their face has frozen a certain way. In Sakura's case, it was a hybrid between confounded and skepticism. A controlled, albeit slightly awkward conversation was now spinning off on a tangent… and she had mentally prepared herself for something completely different. Of all the things she expected him to say, that was certainly one of the last.

Coming to her senses, she blinked rapidly and curiously tilted her head. "Oh… yeah! I mean, of course!"

She remembered that conversation clearly now. Walking home from dinner, she had told him how much she enjoyed asking him questions, and if he ever wanted, he could do the same.

Sasuke cleared his throat. "Listen… I, uh…"

Defeated in the first attempt. He exhaled lowly in frustration.

Sakura raised her eyebrows in concern. Now he was starting to scare her. She knew that whatever it was he wanted to ask **had** to be extremely important. It just didn't seem like a "can I borrow a kunai" kind of deal.

"Is… something bothering, Sasuke? You can tell me, you know. You can tell me anything…"

He shut his eyes then, irritation quickly taking over his features. With growing concern, Sakura raised an arm to her chest. Sasuke was clenching his fist, as if restraining himself from punching the wall.

"It's nothing..." he seethed, eyes burning a hole into the wall ahead.

Stopping at the doors exciting the hall, he pushed it open and stood aside for Sakura. She had stopped in her tracks out of concern for the strange hiccup in the boy's demeanor. He noticed; ripping his thoughts from the battlefield to scan the look on Sakura's face.

"Coming?" Sasuke snapped, eager to distance himself from the tension he had foolishly created.

She bit her lip. It was what could be expected. If Sasuke wanted to open up, then he would do it at his own pace. One could not expect a floodgate of emotions to surface within the span of 5 minutes. Of course, Sakura was more than curious as to what he had to say… but she wouldn't resort to beating it out of him.

"Okay… well, whenever you're ready to talk…"

He nodded as she made her way past him.

"Be careful," he ordered, referring to her mission.

She grinned over her shoulder. "You worry too much."

"I wasn't worrying..." Sasuke muttered as he left down a different hallway.

Rolling her eyes, Sakura adjusted her backpack and exited through another set of doors. _What a grouch…_ she thought playfully. It was a wonder how the dark and angst-y rude boy persona was a turn-on for most girls. It had been for her once… Wait, once? Okay, sometimes she still found it to be a tad attractive, but all in all, it was an enigma that should no longer be concerning her thoughts in the first place.

Wincing through the glaring sunlight, she spotted Sasuke resuming his laps around the village, and with Kakashi nowhere to be seen, it was safe to assume he'd gotten away with his little 'detour.'

_What an odd thing to do_, she thought. Not only was Sasuke late for his training with Kakashi, but he chose to scamper off in the middle of it as well?

Passing through the gates, she began to make haste toward the south bridge. She was on duty now, and someone needed her assistance. Summoning chakra to her feet, she leaped upwards and began making her way from tree branch to tree branch.

It was still quite a distance away, and Sakura soon found her thoughts meandering to pass the time. It surprised her that her thoughts went immediately to Sasuke.

Frowning inwardly, she realized the Uchiha's behavior that morning was linked back to her in some way. He was late because he had insisted on waiting for her while she checked on Neji. But why? It's not like she asked him to… Should she really feel guilty about that? And him ditching his training to find out what her mission was… she certainly hadn't asked him to do that, either.

Picking her up, walking her home…

He had always just… been there.

Something went off in her head. It seemed her inner persona, who had remained dormant for some time, began laughing hysterically.

"_Oh God, you're an idiot!"_

The outburst caused her focus of chakra to falter. Her foot slipped from the branch, but she only fell a short distance before regaining her composure. Grabbing hold of another branch, she expertly flipped herself back up and resumed, secretly hoping no one had seen such an embarrassing display.

Scrunching her eyebrows, she demanded her thoughts give an explanation. It was thoroughly granted and the inkling that struck her made sense, but at the same time, it _really_ didn't at all.

Ever since Sasuke had returned to Konoha, he had been different… and the word different could only be stretched so far. He still smirked and snapped and belittled and ignored and… and all the while he still kept to himself, glared when he needed to, and shoved arrogance down one's throat when he needed to. Sasuke was still Sasuke, but…

The underlining was there.

He had masked all his good intentions behind a cold stare and a cocky remark or two; something Sakura was so accustomed to seeing, to feeling… What if she was completely blind to the true meaning of his actions?

A slow clapping began to commence in her head…

Although to be fair, her inner thoughts could hardly blame her for being so naive. Years of being detested by a person could no doubt lead to some form of skepticism.

Sasuke had disliked her. Really. He had. Sakura could remember a time where she had very nearly drowned, and he just stood there… letting Naruto do the worrying. In his eyes, she was the nuisance, the hindrance, and the useless pink-haired princess. When she confessed her childhood love, he had flat out said she was annoying and cracked her lights out.

And after all that, if the possibility of him turning it all around were to occur… who wouldn't think twice about pushing it out of their minds?

Sakura had done just that. She had rejected every possibility from her mind with the solid belief that it **just** **wasn't** possible.

"_Think about it!"_ Inner Sakura shrieked. _"Really **think** about it!"_

Narrowing her eyes in confusion, she did. She thought hard. Every moment she had spent with Sasuke was played back in her mind. Things that he said, things that he did… every gesture now held some sort of clue, some sort of implication…

Sakura gasped in surprise when she realized she almost flew past the old man's house. Landing on the ground, she skidded gracefully to a stop and dusted the sides of her clothing. She scolded herself inwardly for not paying better attention.

It was her duty now to help people; she'd think about her problems on her own time.

Placing her hand on the door, she attempted to slide it open… but froze.

The handle felt wet, and just a tad warm.

Slowly, she took her hand back and found it coated with a sticky red substance. The handle was drenched in blood—how the hell had she not noticed that? Ignoring the slight churn in her stomach, Sakura rapidly slid the door open and entered the old man's house.

She grabbed a kunai from her pouch and walked slowly, careful to not let her footsteps be heard against the squeaky floorboards. The house was dark, and Sakura had trouble seeing her way through, but one could not miss the many blood splatters that painted the floor. Rounding the corner of a hall, her foot hit something soft and she prayed it was just an unconscious body.

Kneeling down to get a better look against the darkness, Sakura nearly stumbled backwards when she realized what her foot had come into contact with was, literally, another foot. A severed foot, to be exact.

She slapped a hand quickly to her mouth and instinctively crawled backwards. It was then that her eyesight fully adjusted to the darkness and she could see clearly what was beyond the one severed foot. Scattered across the hallway were more body parts and speckled streaks of deep crimson that surrounded.

The entire family, the old man, his wife and his grandson had all been savagely murdered.

Sakura's stomach continued to churn at the horrific sight as she stumbled her way out of the house. She was a trained medic and she had seen more dead bodies than she would've liked… but nothing like this. It was an image of sadistic, inhuman cruelty that stretched an entire hallway for someone's viewing pleasure.

Reaching the front door, she slumped against it and tried to maintain the rapid beating inside her chest. Her breathing escaped in short, hurried gasps, and the pressure in her chest just wouldn't cease.

Who could do such a thing? And why? They were a sweet, generous family that didn't get in anyone's way. How in the world did this happen to them…?

"Sakura-chan."

Her green eyes darted toward the presense that was now calmly approaching the house.

"You seem a bit upset," Orochimaru said knowingly, a thick tongue protruding to lick the corners of his mouth.

"Did I scare you?"

* * *

**Author's note:** Haha check it out, guys! Just a day before two weeks… slick! Okay, that was bad. I overestimated how well I could balance writing this chapter and finishing my final projects. Unfortunately, the projects were a top priority so I only started writing this a couple days ago. It's a bit hurried, but I did say less than two weeks so here it is! You know what's funny? Originally there was no interaction between Sasuke and Sakura in this chapter. The result? Writer's block. I couldn't write a damn thing and I started to get bored. BORED! So I found out what makes me tick: SasuSaku therapy. I NEED them to interact at least once in every chapter or I'm not motivated to write. It's bizarre.

Anyway, this chapter's a bit short and I apologize. The next one will be a doozy, though… I'm out of school, guys! Expect faster chapters!

In Naruto news: if the filler arc's not over by the next episode I'll flail my limbs and rampage… but after I calm down, you can bet that I'll sit down and keep watching. As for the manga (where are we, ch. 303?) I'm starting to like this Sai fellow.

Next chapter: less than one week.


	15. Chapter 15

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

**

* * *

Chapter 15**

It wasn't fair.

As his footsteps hit the ceramic tiled floor, the hollow echo pounded into his ears. Time was moving too slow. The walls began to stretch, furthering the last door just out of his reach. So much farther it spread, so much farther to go… Time just wouldn't keep up.

It wasn't fair at all.

Fairness was a lie.

Fairness wouldn't allow such suffering to continue. He had done everything he needed to do to make things right. He knew it.

He **knew** it.

Years of training, years of endurance… the purpose of his life's dexterity had fulfilled its dream. The cause of his pain and suffering had been eliminated. Vengeance was achieved. It was over, finished… and in the works of being forgotten.

But the pain would never stop it would seem.

Not for him.

He couldn't escape suffering.

The black pools in his eyes shrank at the glaring red and white sign just above the last door. The words "Emergency Room_" _threatened him against entering and taunted him with its silent, authoritative power.

He wouldn't listen. Fuck following the rules; the door was too close now.

But before he could reach it, his vision was obstructed by a rabid blur of black and orange. The figure stood his ground and grabbed both his shoulders.

"Sasuke," Naruto said firmly. "You can't go in there."

"Either tell me what happened, or get the fuck out of my way..." Sasuke snarled.

In one quick motion, Naruto took hold of Sasuke's collar and slammed him against the wall. He wouldn't put up with his friend's arrogance at a time like this.

"They're keeping her alive in there!" the blonde hissed. "If you go in, you could mess everything up!"

"Get off me!"

"Like hell I will!"

"I'm warning you, dobe!"

Naruto made no effort to release the raging boy as he lowered his voice. "…I'll kill you before I let you touch that door."

The two best friends glared openly at one another. An intense silence surrounded them before Sasuke took hold of the hands clutching his collar and shoved them off. Naruto willingly backed away and took a seat on the opposite side of the waiting room. Sasuke, in turn, reluctantly took a seat on his own side.

After a good 5 minutes, one of them finally chose to speak.

"How is she?" the Uchiha asked quietly.

Naruto glanced at him before returning his gaze to the floor. "Blows to the stomach, chest… It's mostly trauma, though…" 

He stared at the blonde, anger radiating from his eyes. "Trauma…? Like to her head?"

Closing his eyes, the other boy shook his head slowly. "_In _her head. There's psychological trauma."

"WHAT?" Sasuke asked skeptically, the fury in his voice demanding an explanation.

"Something... happened to her mind... Genjutsu."

He continued to stare, the information just couldn't sink in. "Is... Will she...?"

"I don't know, Sasuke. She looked pretty bad."

"...How do you know all this?"

Naruto opened his eyes then, deep cerulean now hollow and glassy from his own traumatizing ordeal.

"I was the one who found her."

* * *

"**SAKURA-CHAN!**" 

Through his years of training, Uzumaki Naruto had experienced terror in its many forms. He had felt the tremors during his darkest hours: fear from death, fear from those alive… but nothing could compare to this.

The cold stab of dread was slashing his chest.

Naruto was returning from a solo mission. It had been a simple delivery to one of the neighboring villages and he was back in less than a day. Just before reaching the south bridge, the brief flash of red and pink caught his eye. He had been sailing through the trees at the quickest speed he could muster; if he hadn't chosen that exact second to glance down, he would have missed her…

Sakura lay sprawled on her stomach with her head turned to the side. Dried blood caked her chin and part of her forehead while the majority matted her normally lustrous hair into a tangled mess.

Landing quickly by her side, Naruto carefully turned his friend over and cradled her against his lap.

"Sakura-chan! Speak to me, please! Are you okay? Sakura-chan!"

The most disturbing part however, was the expression on her face. Her eyes were wide open in terror as tears fell uncontrollably from her eyes. Short and rapid intakes of breath escaped her lips as the rest of her body shivered in unison.

She held no reaction to light, no reaction to touch…

Someone had scared Sakura into paralysis and beat her to a bloody pulp in the process.

"Sakura-chan, please…" he choked. "…Y-You're not… you're not saying anything! You have to say something! Tell me what hurts!"

Her green eyes, glassed over from the unrelenting tears, seemed to stare right through him.

He was afraid to move her. Blood was seeping from her clothes, from her lips… He had gone through this countless times: he had found friends, strangers… even Sasuke in near-death situations… but for some reason, he just wasn't prepared to find Sakura in such a state.

Something like this was not suppose to happen to someone like her.

Though she had given him a hard time growing up, Sakura was a loyal and devoted friend. She was sweet and caring, giving him advice or support—whatever he needed. She hadn't turned her back on him, she wasn't afraid of the demon housed in his body… Sakura had been there… unconditionally.

"Not you! You can't do this! **Not you**!"

He knew he was being childish, selfish even, but he didn't care. His own eyes began to sting as his lungs suddenly felt constricted of air.

"You're suppose to be here! Telling me to shut up and calm down!" 

Sakura was still shaking, still terrified of something he couldn't see. His cherished teammate was suffering, even in the safety of his arms.

For her sake, he restrained himself from losing it.

"Okay, Sakura-chan…" Naruto whispered. "I'll make it stop… I'll make it stop, I promise."

He held her protectively against his chest, and with his free arm, pressed hard against a pressure point located on the back of Sakura's neck. Her body instantly went limp as he blessed her with the calming darkness of sleep, convinced that if her mind wasn't frozen in such a state of shock, she would've been passed out from the injuries that marred her body.

He prayed he had stopped her suffering, even if just temporarily.

Before carrying Sakura back to Konoha, Naruto had quickly scanned the surroundings and found the scattered remains of a massacred family. He wondered if the horrific sight to be seen was what traumatized his poor friend, but quickly dismissed the idea.

Sakura had seen tragedies like this before. Not to mention she was a nurse; blood and guts couldn't disturb her mind to such an extent—she was a hell of a lot stronger than that.

He would report the tragedy as soon as he got Sakura to a hospital. Naruto had risked his life trying to save Sasuke who was no where to be found for years… so he would be damned if he couldn't save the life of someone who **had** stuck by him.

Panic drove his adrenaline to move faster. Red chakra began to engulf his feet as he begged the fox demon within to lend him strength. The amazing speed he had acquired on his own just wasn't good enough.

* * *

Leaning forward on his chair, Sasuke interlocked his fingers against his forehead. He felt useless, and felt increasingly frustrated from _feeling_ useless. There was nothing he could do. In any other case, he could unleash the power of his blood-red eyes, beat up massive amounts of people, or torch an entire landscape with his pyro techniques… but what good was any of that now? His skills were used to _hurt_ people. 

He couldn't help Sakura.

He couldn't do anything.

But one thing was for sure: he would find out who did this. If not from Sakura, then from any possible lead he could muster. He would threaten and interrogate till someone in the world cracked.

Although it was probably unnecessary.

From the symptoms described, the person would have to be a high-leveled genjutsu user. When he first heard of the incident, he immediately thought of Kabuto, and of how the medic shinobi had inquired about Sakura during his 'visit.' Ever since then, Sasuke had secretly feared that Kabuto would attempt to threaten Sakura's life as punishment for his refusal to return.

But for Sakura to be taken down so ruthlessly by another medic nin… it just didn't add up. Plus, if he recalled correctly, Kabuto didn't specialize in genjutsu. The only other people, that Sasuke knew of, in the entire world who could use genjutsu to such a devastating degree were Itachi and…

Orochimaru.

Would his previous sensei, that serpent son-of-a-bitch, really make the effort to leave his fucking throne, and…

His eyes widened in realization.

Just **what** had Kabuto told him? That bastard could've said anything to Orochimaru!

Glancing at the Emergency Room door, he knew he would have to wait to make sure. If his assumption was correct, then the next stepwas clear: he would simply kill both of them.

Looking up, Sasuke noticed the dobe had gone completely silent after explaining what had happened when he found Sakura.

"Did you tell Tsunade about the family?"

Naruto nodded absently. "She sent ANBU to investigate…"

He stared hard at his friend before turning away. The blonde was clearly devastated, so he wouldn't force anymore details out of him. Personally, he didn't think he could handle anymore, either.

Sasuke turned his attention back to the door at the end of the hallway; the sign was still lit, indicating occupancy.

The wait was excruciating. He had to be in that room, he had to know she was okay.

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke cursed inwardly. He _had_ to _know_… **that** was what was fucked up about everything.

Ever since his return to Konoha…

It was nothing at first: dismissed as curiosity. But slowly and surely, he had to know about anything and everything that involved Haruno Sakura.

Where she was, when she'd be back, who she was with… he had made the effort to subtly find out the answers. If that didn't work, something inside him would snap, forcing him to blatantly demand an answer from the most reliable source.

To not know was irritating.

…And he didn't even know **why**.

After Sakura no longer needed to be his nurse, Sasuke just didn't _like_ not having her around. And ever since the encounter with Kabuto, he didn't want her out of his sight all together. In fact, if enough time passed, he would seek her out on his own and mumble some lame-ass excuse if she ever asked why.

The truth was, he honestly didn't have an answer.

Not at first.

He was trying to come to terms with his feelings as quickly and as carefully as he knew how. Which, unfortunately, didn't make it any easier. He denied the most obvious answer for weeks, scoffing arrogantly at the idea and all its insanity.

But eventually, like every other life-altering event in his life, he knew he would just have to accept it.

**

* * *

Author's note:** He won't come out and say it… not yet, anyway. The next chapter is a continuation of Chapter 14. And believe me, Sakura puts up a fight. She seems weak and defeated here, but it's all justified (especially when you find out what she actually went through) Also, Sakura will be awake in the hospital by then. Haha don't worry, I won't frustrate you guys by having her lose her memory or whatever. In this chapter, I originally wanted Sasuke to find her, but his reaction seemed out of character in the first couple drafts. I think Naruto expresses it a lot better. 

Wow, this less than one-week deadline is hard to keep up with… I think I'll just say **exactly** one-week for the next one (Sorry guys… I find the pressure is affecting my writing.)

Naruto news: during episodes 181 and 182, my eyes just wandered. Haha oh man, I don't even care about what's going on anymore. The manga alone is keeping my faith alive.

Next chapter: one week


	16. Chapter 16

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

**

* * *

Chapter 16**

"You bastard…" Sakura breathed. "You sick, bastard!"

Unfazed, the legendary ninja held the amused smile on his lips. The long black hair, and the Sound Village attire, the jagged purple marking around his eyes… Orochimaru was not a hard man to identify.

"Watch your language, Sakura-san," spoke another voice. She whirled around to see Kabuto leaning casually against the side of the house. Standing immediately, Sakura took several steps back to distance herself from both the snake shinobi and his silver-haired lackey.

"What's going on?" she demanded steadily. As she took another step back, her leg almost refused to cooperate. It was evident that fear had stricken her senses, but she would not let it project through her voice. "Answer me, damnit!"

Adjusting his glasses against his nose, Kabuto remained stationary as he glanced at his accomplice. Orochimaru smirked in response. "We need you to send a message for us, Sakura-chan."

Gripping the handle of a kunai she had instinctively brought out, Sakura narrowed her eyes skeptically. "A message…?" she repeated. "You murdered a family for that?"

"We requested you," Kabuto finally spoke up. "The family, well…" Again, he glanced in Orochimaru's direction.

"I wanted to see how you'd react," the snake said simply. "It was very amusing."

Sakura closed her eyes and tried to steady her increasing grip on the weapon she held. Inwardly, she cursed her hands for shaking.

"Why me?" she whispered. "Why do you need **me** to send your message?"

Grinning, Kabuto pushed himself from the wall. "Sakura-san," he said calmly "you _are_ the message."

* * *

"Hey!" Tsunade called loudly. 

Both Naruto and Sasuke, who had fallen asleep in their chairs, jerked quickly out of their sleep.

"You can see her now."

Looking at the waiting room clock, Sasuke noticed it was already morning. He mentally berated himself for falling asleep after he had spent the entire night completely focused on staying awake. He sat and he paced, occasionally swatting away whatever reading material Naruto shoved in his face.

"Try keeping your mind on something else," was the blonde's argument.

"I don't want to!" Sasuke had spat defiantly. His own response had startled him, and judging from the cryptic look on Naruto's face, it had startled him as well. After that, he hadn't said anything further to the dark-haired boy for the rest of the night.

Blinking the last remains of fatigue from his eyes, Naruto stood quickly and ran up to the rather exhausted looking Hokage. "How is she? Is she okay?"

Tsunade nodded. "Sakura's condition is stable, but she hasn't woken up just yet. Give it time."

"What happened to her?" Sasuke demanded.

"Aside from the damage she sustained mentally, all her ribs were either cracked or broken, and there were several stab wounds." She paused to rub her temple. Personally, she felt uneasy about giving them further details. There was doubt in her mind that they were even handling what she had just told them. "Right wrist was broken, arm was dislocated… You really want to hear more?"

A low growl escaped Sasuke's throat as he brushed past her, Naruto following closely at his heels. "Thank you, baachan…" the dobe murmured quietly.

Entering the sterilized room, the harsh bleach-like odor invaded their senses as they quickly spotted Sakura's bed. Several medics were still surrounding her; wrapping up the job by collecting loose bandages and medical supplies. Naruto and Sasuke waited for the room to clear before approaching the bed.

They stood in silence, letting the steady beep from the heart-rate monitor fill the void.

"Tell me," Naruto said finally. "Who do you think did this?"

* * *

Sakura jumped quickly and rolled out of the way as Kabuto's leg made contact with the tree behind her. She didn't have to look to know that it had fallen over from the sheer force of his strength. 

_Jeez…_ she thought as he came at her once again. From the corner of her eye, she noticed the faintest glow of chakra being emitted from his fist. Tsunade had told her that medics at Kabuto's level had the power to disable the flow of chakra from any given contact point. Narrowing her eyes as he swung his fist at her, she dodged it quickly and grabbed him by the wrist. With a smirk, she summoned chakra to her own fist and smashed it into his gut. The one thing Sakura hoped she had an advantage with was the inhuman strength Tsunade had passed down to her.

Kabuto was sent flying into a tree from the force of the hit, a look of a surprise overtook his features when he soon realized he had underestimated the other medic.

"Nicely done," the other man commented.

Sakura turned to glare daggers at Orochimaru. "What do you want from me?"

He stood with his arms calmly at his sides, declaring no intention to attack her just yet. "Sakura-chan," he began simply. "I'm sure you're aware of the little deal Sasuke-kun and I had.

"You see, he owes me. He needed to kill his brother, and I taught him how. In return, I requested only a simple favor."

"You wanted Sasuke to be your next vessel." Sakura finished.

"Correct. But, unfortunately, Sakura-chan… there's something standing in the way."

Before she could question him further, a snake protruded from Orochimaru's mouth and shot at her with amazing speed. Her hand instinctively caught the deadly serpent in midair, and as her grip tightened, she gasped when blood began to seep from her closed palm. The transformation had been so sudden, she hadn't noticed that the snake was now a razor sharp sword that dug painfully into her flesh as she held it. Sakura's pain reflex forced her to release the weapon, which in turn, continued to plunge forward into her shoulder.

She hit the ground hard, gritting her teeth as the sword slowly dug its way through her flesh.

"You see, Sasuke-kun seems to have lost his priorities." Orochimaru continued. "I had Kabuto spy on him during several occasions and it looks like he wants to remain in Konoha."

This time she wouldn't let the searing pain get to her. Taking a deep breath, Sakura wrapped a hand around the blade in her shoulder and gripped it tightly. Ignoring the pain, she forced the blade out and pushed it away, standing quickly to her feet.

Blood poured from her wounds as she clutched her shoulder. "So what?" she hissed. "Let him live his own life…"

"His _life_ belongs to **me**. You'll do well to remember that, Sakura-chan."

Her eyes narrowed in puzzlement. "Why do you keep mentioning _me_? Why am I involved in this?"

The serpent nin chuckled. "Don't play naïve with me."

_Naïve...?_

"...Sasuke-kun's new objective in life... is **you**."

A look of pure obliviousness took hold of her features. "WHAT?"

"You've bewitched him, poisoned him, crawled under his skin like an insect—he's forgotten what's really important."

"You're… wrong…" she whispered. "He… I… Sasuke doesn't…"

"Hm," he scoffed. He was disgusted by her denial; he had no patience for such childish games. "Sasuke-kun and I had a deal, Sakura-chan… and right now, you're the one stopping him.

"Tell Sasuke-kun… this is his first warning. He_ will_ return to me."

Sakura opened her mouth to protest but quickly found herself dodging a barrage of shuriken. Kabuto had recovered quickly, flying at her once more with kunais held in the grips of his fingers. 

_This is bad…_ Sakura thought hurriedly. _The both of them are coming at me…!_

A kunai was flung quickly at her head. Focusing chakra to her hand, she passed it along side the weapon's handle mere inches from her face and pushed it in Orochimaru's direction.

Unimpressed by the kunoichi's efforts, Orochimaru lazily turned his head to get out of the kunai's way. Just as it approached however, he was surprised to find an explosion tag wrapped around its handle. Sakura smirked when he jumped out of the way just in the nick of time. Evidently, he hadn't seen her attach it.

She watched Orochimaru carefully from the corner of her eye. He had landed a safe distance away, but made no attempt to counter-attack. It seemed he merely wanted to watch the battle between her and his loyal henchman.

Fine. She wasn't complaining.

Turning her attention back to Kabuto, Sakura jumped backwards to evade his chakra-infused hand. Just as he had done during his fight with Tsunade, he was attempting to disable her chakra release, or worse…

Without warning, he disappeared from view. She gasped and whipped around quickly only to have Kabuto's fist smash against her chest. He had moved with amazing speed behind Sakura. She flew backwards, the impact alone causing her body to drag against the gravel beneath her when she landed. Her hand went immediately to her chest where the other medic had hit her; breathing was rapidly becoming an issue.

Kneeling over, Kabuto took hold of the hand she clutched to her chest. "Hurts, doesn't it?" he asked simply "—when your own lungs just don't cooperate." Even though Sakura was gasping for air, her shoulder wound torn from the impact, she still struggled to pull her hand back.

Without blinking an eye, Kabuto broke her wrist in one fluid motion, inciting a gasp of pain from Sakura's lips, now crimson from the blood that spurted from her mouth.

The medic leaned closer. "The next warning will be your corpse, so make sure he knows—"

Sakura's other hand shot up quickly and clutched the man's neck. Kabuto could only yell in pain as burning chakra enveloped his throat.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" she hissed.

Kabuto choked, clawing his hands desperately against the intensity of her grip.

"That's enough for you today," Orochimaru announced. Grabbing Sakura's arm, he released Kabuto by jerking violently at her limb, dislocating it painfully from its socket.

"Sakura-chan…" the snake said coolly. "It appears I've underestimated you. You've improved quite a bit." He paused to smile cruelly at her. "But… do you remember what happened the first time we met? I believe I met you and Sasuke-kun at the same time during the chuunin exam."

She froze, instantly recalling what had happened. Orochimaru had almost killed them with one fatal look from his eye. They had both been frozen in fear; if Sasuke hadn't awakened his senses by stabbing himself, they would've met their ends.

Wrapping long fingers around Sakura's neck, he forced her to look up at him. "Let's see how well you handle it **now**."

With his free hand, Orochimaru brought a finger to his eye and pulled at the gray-colored skin, revealing the same nightmarish eye that had tortured her soul so many years before.

"I think you'll find that I've improved as well."

* * *

She awoke with a startled cry and winced when she immediately felt pressure against her shoulder. A hand was attempting to hold her down as she struggled to sit up. Instinctively, she shoved the offending pressure away and tried to break free of anything else that felt restraining. 

"Sakura!" a familiar voice shouted.

She blinked rapidly and instantly calmed herself when she turned to see Sasuke standing by her. Worry creasing his forehead, he seemed to be anticipating her response with dread.

"S-Sasuke…?" she asked in surprise. Looking around, she soon realized she was in a hospital room. Her room was dark with the faintest hint of purple; a shade that slowly escaped with the retreating sun. It was evening… how long had she been out?

"Don't move," Sasuke said sternly. "Naruto went to get a nurse."

"When did… why…?"

"Before you woke up, your heart rate started doing some crazy things…He'll be back any minute."

Sakura's body instantly coiled when the pain from her injuries sunk in. She whimpered from the discomfort, clutching pitifully at her shoulder.

"Stop that," the Uchiha scolded as he forced her arm down against the bed. "I said don't move—you'll strain something."

"I know…" she whispered harshly. "How long was I out?"

"About a day."

"Was I in surgery long?"

"Sort of…" he scowled, impatience clearly evident in his tone. She was avoiding the most obvious subject. He wanted her to tell him what happened, to tell him who had done this to her so he could rip them to pieces.

"Sakura."

"Yeah…?"

"Tell me who did this."

Her green eyes strayed. "What? What do you mean?"

"What do you mean 'what do I mean'?" he snapped. "Tell me who hurt you!"

"I-I…" Sakura bit her lip as she looked up timidly into Sasuke's intense stare. His knuckles were white against the bed frame, the material looking ready to snap from the pressure.

"_His _life_ belongs to **me**."_

"Sasuke…" she said quietly. "I… they…."

"_He _will_ return."_

She closed her eyes, but opened them quickly when she felt Sasuke's hand resting against the top of her wrist.

"Just tell me, Sakura…"

Her green eyes stared at him blankly before she looked away to stare idly at one of her bandages.

"Someone attacked me and left… I don't know who it was."

**

* * *

Author's note:  
**

SasuSaku action's gonna start heating up from now on! Anyway, not much to say about this chapter… a big chunk of the fight scene has yet to be told, so sometime in the next two chapters it'll come up. By the way, does this whole Orochimaru Sasuke thing make sense? It did to me at first… but now I'm thinking, _isn't it obvious that pissing Sasuke off will only result in him coming to kill you? _Oh oh wait! I just got an idea as I was writing that sentence… oh-hoho! Okay, Orochimaru's plan will make more sense later. It's been decided. 

Naruto news: so... fillers, huh? Good thing chapter 305 of the manga kicks ass. OMG it's Sasuke's backside this time! Rar..

Next chapter: one week.


	17. Chapter 17

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

**

* * *

Chapter 17**

Black eyes scowled immediately. "What do you mean, you don't—?"

The door burst open, revealing a very concerned-looking Naruto accompanied by several of the hospital staff. He had created quite the ruckus when Sakura's monitors began to emit strange, violent signals.

"Sakura-chan!" the blonde gaped. "You're awake!"

"Get out, dobe." Sasuke said abruptly. "They need to check on her now."

Before pushing Naruto out the door with him; however, he shot a stern look in Sakura's direction and leaned in closely, the warmth of his breath grazing her earlobe. "We'll talk later…" he growled.

Sakura watched in silence as Sasuke dragged the protesting blonde out of the room. Once the door was closed, the nurses went to work immediately, checking her injuries and chakra levels; a procedure she knew all too well and did not need to question.

Although she winced occasionally from the unavoidable handling of her injuries, her mind was far too distracted from the dilemma at hand: just how was she going to survive her next conversation with Sasuke?

* * *

"She **WHAT**?" 

"She won't tell us."

Clenching his fists, Naruto sighed angrily. "But… there's nothing to be embarrassed about! We've gotten our asses kicked thousands of times!"

"Hn." Rolling his eyes, Sasuke folded his arms and leaned against the wall behind him. "Speak for yourself."

"The point is, she shouldn't have to pretend she doesn't know anything to save face!"

The Uchiha shook his head. "It's not a pride thing, dobe. Do you really think she'd willingly say some random nobody beat her up and won?"

Blue eyes fell in regret. "Oh."

"Just leave her alone for now… she'll tell us when she's ready." His eyes narrowed threateningly at his best friend. "So don't ask her about it."

"I have to! Maybe she'll tell me!"

"She won't. Keep your voice down."

"B-But…!"

"I said **don't**, idiot!"

The blonde unwillingly backed down. He never did like that look Sasuke gave him sometimes—nothing good could ever come from it. It was the same look he got when he messed up Sasuke's scrolls or stole the last tomato from his plate. Armageddon could only be avoided by shutting his mouth or running for his life.

And so, biting his lip, Naruto shut his mouth. He didn't quite understand what was going on. From what Sasuke had told him, Sakura was keeping the details of her attack to herself. He wanted to question the dark-haired boy… why would he call their cherished teammate a liar? It just didn't sound right… it just didn't sound like Sakura. Facing death, he opened his mouth to argue but stopped when he caught sight of the peculiar expression on Sasuke's face.

He was staring hard at the closed door leading to Sakura's room. Judging from his body language, he was trying hard to look nonchalant and unconcerned… but his expression put his efforts to shame. The hard, charcoal eyes, constantly void of emotion, were now softened by intense concern. His eyebrows, however, were narrowed in unspeakable fury, and even Naruto couldn't tell where it was directed. It certainly wasn't at Sakura, or even himself for being too stubborn and loud.

It was something the other boy already knew.

"_Tell me," Naruto said finally. "Who do you think did this?"_

_Sasuke hadn't responded right away; he was too distracted, watching with impatience as the nurses finally began to leave the room. _"_I'm… not sure…" he muttered after several more minutes of silence. _

_The blonde's eyes widened in surprise. "So you have an idea?"_

"_I never said—" But the Uchiha was cut off when strong hands clutched violently at his collar. _

"_If you know something, you better tell me!"_

"_What are you, **INSANE**?" Sasuke shouted. "You're the one who said not to start shit in here!"_

_The nurses filing out of the room stopped to stare at the sudden scene unfolding before them. One of them, concerned for Sakura's health and the surrounding equipment, quickly whispered an order to call for help. _

_"If you know something, tell me, you bastard! Don't keep things from me now!" _

_Sasuke pushed him off roughly, but shot an arm out quickly to grab at Naruto's jacket, stopping the other boy from hitting a table covered with medical supplies._

_"There's nothing," he whispered harshly, shoving the blonde out of his way in a safer direction. "There's nothing I know for sure… so forget I said anything."_

"_You two." a voice bellowed behind them. _

_They turned to see their former sensei standing in the doorway, the nurses exiting quickly and quietly behind him. Kakashi narrowed his half-lidded eye and closed the door once it was only the four of them, including the unconscious Sakura, in the small hospital room. _

"_I understand your tempers at a time like this, but keep it up and I'll put you both under house arrest."_

Even if it was just a theory, Naruto wanted to hear it. He needed something, anything, to quench the frustration he felt in his heart for not knowing and for not being able to help.

Maybe Sasuke felt the same… maybe as a result of such a feeling, he didn't trust his own theories. He would give Sasuke the benefit of the doubt and assume that he had an _idea_ of who the culprit was, but would not propose anything without it being concrete. In situations filled with chaos and ambiguity, he knew he had to count on Sasuke to be the levelheaded one. That boy could stay dead focused even with his clothes on fire.

Naruto leaned against the wall next to Sasuke and yawned.

"If you're tired, go home." the Uchiha said abruptly. "I'll stay with her."

The fox boy shook his head defiantly. "I wanna stay."

"You have a mission tomorrow, don't you?"

He groaned. "Yeah… I'll go cancel."

"There's no point. Sakura's awake now, she's fine."

"I know, I know… I just…" the blonde sighed. "Fine… you're probably right."

"Who's on your team anyway?"

"Fuzzy-brows and Ne—"

"Naruto!"

Both boys turned to see Hyuuga Neji approaching them from the end of the hallway. Sasuke, keeping his arms folded, pushed himself from the wall and stood casually between Neji and Sakura's door, unconsciously acting as a barricade.

The silver-eyed boy did not miss the overprotective gesture. Scoffing, he ignored the Uchiha and turned to Naruto. "I just heard the news. Is she alright?"

Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but was quickly interrupted by Sasuke.

"She's fine," the other boy snapped. "She needs rest, so don't bother her."

For the first time, Neji finally glared in response to Sasuke's hostile attitude. "Guess I don't have a choice."

Naruto looked nervously from one boy to the other. He knew that the two geniuses, for whatever reason, just didn't seem to get along. So, to avoid any further bloodshed, he would have to separate them as soon as possible. "Hey, uh…" the blonde began timidly. "Neji, we have a mission tomorrow, right? Let's get a bowl of ramen and discuss the briefing."

The scowl on the Hyuuga's face barely flinched as Naruto dragged him away by the arm. "Fine," he muttered reluctantly. "Tell Sakura I'll be back to visit her."

Sasuke glared and turned away, casually resuming his position against the wall.

"Hn." Like hell he would.

* * *

_How does it feel, Sakura-chan? _

She gasped through choked sobs of agony, clutching desperately at her wounds, holding in the dangerous amounts of blood that poured from her open flesh. It just wouldn't stop flowing. No matter how much pressure she applied, the blood just kept seeping through, soaking her clothes and the floor she could not see, nor grasp.

_Welcome to your death. It's slow, and it's painful… and it's where you'll be forever._

"SHUT UP!" Sakura shrieked furiously. She would not give in to such vile deceptions. It was all in her mind—it _had_ to be!

Feeling light-headed, she blinked rapidly and tried to reawaken her senses. Everything was distorted, her sense of direction more than anything else. Reaching out blindly for anything to hold onto, she felt increasingly nauseous as her mind could no longer decipher if she was sitting upright or upside down. Closing her eyes, she tried desperately to regain her composure.

The nausea, the blinding pain, the heinous laughter that rang through her ears… _Fall asleep; close your eyes…_

A tiny voice began to plead incoherently. Her terrified, inner-child… screaming and begging.

_Close your eyes…!_

Bloody, slippery hands clawed madly at her ears. Sakura screamed in surprise before realizing they were her own. Breathing hard, she brought her hands to her face… and gasped when nothing came into view.

She could see nothing of herself. It was if she had vanished off the face of the earth…

Her head jerked quickly to the sound of raspy breathing and choked sobs. A young girl lay sprawled in a half-hearted fetal position, clutching madly at wounds so massive in number and so covered by crimson, Sakura couldn't even decipher between a wound and blood splashed on skin.

Then, a flash of pink caught her attention. The injured girl turned her head, revealing short locks of pink hair beneath blood-soaked strands.

_That's…!_

The cackling in her ears continued to dwell.

_Watch closely, Sakura-chan_.

She could do nothing to stop it. She could only watch in horror as the image of herself was ripped to pieces by forces unknown. Limbs flew, blood splattered… and the scream of pain could only sputter and gurgle till silent.

* * *

A scream ripped from Sakura's throat as her whole body jerked itself awake. It took her a moment to realize she was sitting upright, breathing heavily from the cruel nightmare manifested from her memory. Her breathing turned to desperate gasps for air as a violent coughing fit bombarded her chest. 

As she coughed, Sakura soon felt a hand rub soothingly against her back and turned in surprise.

Sasuke wasn't looking at her; he was too busy pouring a glass of water with his free arm.

"Sa-Sasuke…?" she managed between coughs.

"Stop talking," he answered quietly. Taking his hand from her back, he held out the glass of water for her, along with a pill in a small plastic cup.

Without questioning, she took the pill and placed it on her tongue, taking the glass of water soon after.

"Try get some sleep," Sasuke said after Sakura had calmed herself. He hesitated before adding: "What were you dreaming about?"

Biting her lip, the pink-haired girl timidly looked away. "It was just a nightmare… I can't really remember it…"

In the dark, she couldn't see the skeptical look on Sasuke's face. "Fine," he muttered. For now, he would leave the subject alone. He knew Sakura needed to get some rest.

Turning back to gaze at him, she noticed the Uchiha had seated himself in one of the uncomfortable hospital chairs by her bed. He returned to his slouched position, looking ready to fall asleep himself. Sakura's eyes instantly widened; he was planning to spend the night with her?

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the peculiar way Sakura was staring at him.

"You okay? Do you need me to get something for you?"

She shook her head quickly, feeling stupid for gawking at him. "It's nothing, I just… Are you going to stay with me all night?"

A rather cryptic look could barely be seen through the darkness—one that seemed to suggest she had just asked him the stupidest question in the world.

"Yes…" he stated hesitantly.

She blinked in astonishment. "But it's so uncomfortable…! I don't want you to stay here because of me!"

Without a single change in his nonchalant expression, he shrugged. "Deal with it."

**

* * *

Author's note: **I didn't know how to end this chapter properly… it just sorta… did. Anyway, the SasuSaku action will progress in the next couple chapters (it's kinda hard for Sasuke to get …ahem... _rough_ with a girl who's in a hospital bed). I thought it was pretty self-explanatory, but just to be safe: Sakura's nightmare is a flashback of Orochimaru's genjustu whammy (I got the scene in my head from watching the anime, Elfen Lied). In the next chapter, Sasuke's gonna try get some answers. 

Naruto news: do I have to say it? They finally show Sasuke's freaking FACE! Hellz yeah! I haven't watched the latest anime episode though… how's that going?

Next chapter: one week.


	18. Chapter 18

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

* * *

**Chapter 18**

"I'm sorry, Uchiha-san… but Sakura-san checked herself out early this morning."

Clutching the doorframe, Sasuke stood rooted to his spot as he gaped openly at the empty hospital bed.

"She checked _herself_ out?" he repeated. "You can't release her in that condition!"

The nurse, who was casually smoothing the sheets on what was once Haruno Sakura's bed, didn't appear fazed by the dark-haired boy's foul temper.

"She said she felt well enough to take care of herself," the woman answered simply. From the corner of her eye, she glanced at Sasuke knowingly. "And if I recall correctly, you did the exact same thing a couple months ago."

Releasing a growl of exasperation, he rammed a fist against the doorframe. "Alright fine," he replied grudgingly. "Did she at least say where she was going?"

"No, but Sakura-san was instructed to go straight home."

_She better have…_ Nodding tersely, Sasuke left the room and proceeded to exit the hospital, cursing the thought of having to search for her. Truthfully, he didn't even like having Sakura out of his sight when she was healthy.

But if she was out of bed and wandering around, than she was well enough to continue their previous conversation. He had calmly stayed by her bedside and restrained himself from shaking the truth out of her on more than one occasion. Sakura had been in that hospital bed for two days; sleeping whenever she got the chance, yet she almost always woke up screaming.

He couldn't stand it. Catching that brief flash of terror in her eyes only served to infuriate him further. Sasuke needed the truth, and one way or another, he was going to get it.

But watching as she hastily brushed the tears from her eyes and smiling at him as if nothing had happened… He didn't want to force anything out of Sakura while her spirit was so fragile. So, gritting his teeth, he sat there and watched over her, willing her to rest with the reassurance of his protection.

"Hey… Sasuke?" she had asked the other night. "Can I… ask you a question?"

Following his usual arrogant trademarks, he quirked an eyebrow. "I never stopped you before."

The room was pitch-black. Yet somehow, she knew he had been awake. Staring absently into the hospital ceiling, she turned her head and deterred her gaze, only to find blackness occupying the tiny space. Nevertheless, Sasuke's strong presence was felt by her side.

"… Is life everything you expected it to be after defeating your brother?"

Without seeing him, she had felt him go stiff in his chair.

There was silence as Sasuke frowned at her in puzzlement. He could barely make out her figure in the darkness of the room, but he knew that she was fully aware of the question she had asked.

Months ago, he had given her the answer. Why was she bringing it up again?

"You asked me that already."

"I know," she said quietly. "You told me 'not everything'… What were you talking about?"

"It doesn't matter."

"You said that, too."

He scowled instantly. "So then you know my answer. Leave it alone."

Lifting herself to a sitting position, Sakura hissed painfully at the stress her body was enduring from the effort. Concern rapidly replacing his annoyance, Sasuke rose quickly from his chair and held her shoulders securely.

"You're going to hurt yourself," he hissed. "What do you need?"

"Tell me…" she said softly, grabbing at his shirt collar for support. "Tell me what changed…"

"Are you delirious?" the Uchiha asked skeptically. "You were only suppose to take _one_ of those yellow pills."

At a closer proximity, the darkness failed, and they could see each other clearly with their faces inches apart.

"Sasuke," she said seriously. "Just… tell me. Tell me everything, okay? I want to hear it."

He narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Tell you …what? How life wasn't what I expected when I came back?" Sakura opened her mouth to respond, but he continued on angrily. "What the hell do you need to know? I'm getting punished for leaving, my estate was weirdly still intact, the dobe's wearing black and orange instead of white and orange, and you—" He stopped himself quickly. "You… you really…"

Sakura watched silently as Sasuke's eyes drifted briefly from hers.

"…Need to go back to sleep." He met her gaze once more. "We'll talk in the morning, Sakura."

He had woken up before the pink-haired kunoichi early the next morning, giving himself what seemed like an ample amount of time to go home, shower, and come back. So he was indeed surprised to find an empty hospital bed waiting for him upon his return.

She had escaped him for now… but it wouldn't be hard to find her.

* * *

It took a deep breath with her face in her hands to slowly uncover her eyes to the sun. Leaning her head back against a tree trunk, Sakura gazed at the sky. Though the light was blinding, she kept her eyes half-lidded, allowing the harsh rays to only filter through the cracks of her long eyelashes.

Sighing, she took a moment to be alone with her thoughts. After all, she had left abruptly and without saying a word: Sasuke would be pissed.

With his quick instinct and expert interrogation skills, she calculated the Uchiha could find her in a very short amount of time. Knowing this, she went straight home, grabbed any old kimono, and left quickly. She would not stay there, nor would she go to her parents' house to 'hide'. There really wasn't anything Sakura was trying to escape from… But just for a little while, she wanted to be alone.

So, in the forest just outside the training grounds, Sakura rested peacefully in the embrace of nature's serenity. She could think about things logically without the distorting distraction of painkillers or a certain someone's ridiculing presence.

The brightness was too much, so she slowly closed her eyes… rather enjoying the soft orange glow that surfaced behind her eyelids. Feeling herself at peace, Sakura finally asked herself the question she had ignored for days: What the **hell** was she doing?

At first it seemed like a slip of the tongue… if it were in fact possible for an entire sentence to slip at one go. Sasuke had asked plain and simple who had attacked her, and the truth had gotten stuck in her throat. What upchucked instead was an obvious lie that didn't even sound convincing to _her. _

"_Someone attacked me and left," _her head repeated sarcastically. _Brilliant. Should've just said I tripped and fell._

As pretty as it didn't sound, she had no choice but to stick with it.

Well, that was a lie too. Of course she had a choice. She could've just as easily pointed her bent, broken finger at Orochimaru and spared the stress on her and her teammates. It was her own selfless extremities that declared she had no choice.

She couldn't tell Sasuke. He was an avenger… that was the kind of person he was. And she couldn't have him exploding from the hospital in a screaming tirade right into Orochimaru's waiting presence.

The trouble was, if she named Orochimaru, she would have to explain the details; namely the fact that her life was in danger if Sasuke didn't return to the snake man at once.

And if what Orochimaru said was true…

"…_Sasuke's new objective in life…"_

Then he would surely protect her.

"…_is **you**."_

Sakura's small fists immediately clenched in frustration. THAT was what she couldn't understand the most. In a desperate attempt, and with her bravery somewhat fueled by heavy medication, she had tried to coax the truth out of him the night before.

This, of course, failed miserably. Yet, the smallest hint had fallen through the cracks of his stubborn, leave-me-alone antics.

Though Sasuke had misunderstood her plea to tell her everything, he had still let something leak. While absently mentioning her name during his snarky retort, he had frozen like a deer in a barrage of headlights. She knew he had wanted to say _something_… something that involved her, no doubt, but the dark-haired prodigy had recovered quickly and manipulated the situation without breaking a sweat. Clever, clever boy.

The whole idea was still completely foreign: Sasuke had… _feelings…_for…? Why was it so hard to even say in her thoughts?

Would he? Maybe.

Does he? Don't know.

If he did, Sakura wanted to hear it more than anything in the world. It was so confusing, yet so… There was no adjective she could pinpoint for something that was pending an emotion. She wanted the truth, but she had no idea what her reaction would be. For some reason though, if she were wrong, the reaction would fall under old habits and she'd move on with her life in a second.

"Hey Sasuke! Do you have feelings for me?"

"You wish."

"Oh, okay then… See ya tomorrow!"

But if her assumption was right…

"Hey Sasuke! Do you have feelings for me?"

"Yes."

She had no response. Not yet anyway…

Sasuke ended the conversation that night by stating they would 'talk in the morning', so calmly and quietly the next day, she ran for her life. It was a lucky break for her that Sasuke was no where to be seen.

Truthfully, Sakura wasn't running from _Sasuke_, so to speak… but from the inevitable conversation at hand. She needed time to think and to prepare her answers as best as she could. The truth was uglier than the lie, and she was determined to keep Sasuke in the aesthetics of her imagination. He would be grumpy and frustrated with her for a while, but he'd eventually leave it alone.

* * *

"Sakura!"

Silence was the only thing to be heard from behind Sakura's door. If she was there, she was really trying his patience. After knocking his fist against the door one last time, Sasuke effortlessly kicked it open.

A quick glance around told him the tiny apartment was empty.

"Fuck…" _You'd think a nurse would know better than this…_

He left hastily, making sure to prop the door back up before leaving. The next place to search of course was the home she grew up in. Sakura's parents had been gone for a while on an A-Rank mission, so he knew the house was empty… or at least he hoped it wasn't… if Sakura was resting there than this ridiculous game of hide-and-seek would be over.

Sasuke leaped with amazing speed over the rooftops until he landed outside Sakura's old bedroom on the balcony. Moving the white, billowing curtain out of his way, he scanned the room quickly.

Empty.

Smirking, he jumped from the balcony and continued on his way. She wasn't making this easy, but he was always the type to welcome a challenge.

After ruling out the possibilities and asking several residents if they'd spotted the pink-haired girl, Sasuke soon found himself walking through the woods by the training grounds. Surely enough, he soon found her petite figure curled up at the base of a tree.

Wearing a plain red kimono and using the sleeves to cushion her head, Sakura slept peacefully in the cool, summer shade. It seems that while in the midst of sorting through her chaotic thoughts, she had wearily drifted to sleep.

Being too lost in her serene paradise; however, she had barely noticed when Sasuke placed a hand on her shoulder and gently shook her awake.

"Sakura," he said plainly.

A childish whine escaped her as she lazily batted his hand away. He grunted his disdain and promptly took hold of both her shoulders, forcing her into a sitting position.

"What are you doing?" Sakura yawned.

"Get up. I'm taking you back to the hospital."

That did it. Immediately her eyes sprung open. "What? Why? I'm fine!"

"Compared to what?" Sasuke snapped.

"Are you blind?" she hissed angrily. "Look! I'm up and about! I'm healing fine on my own!"

He paused to look her up and down. "Are you lying to me?"

"No!"

"Good. Then since you're so healthy, you can answer a couple questions for me."

_Aw, crap._ Biting her lip, she tried her best to look unfazed. "Okay…" Getting up steadily to her feet, her hands smoothed the fabric of her kimono before clasping together.

Sasuke didn't waste much time. Grabbing her elbow, he backed her up against the tree behind her. A startled yelp escaped the kunoichi as he practically pushed her against it before planting a hand on either side of her head.

"Tell me who hurt you," he repeated darkly. It certainly wasn't a question… a direct order was more like it.

"I told you…" Sakura began hesitantly.

"Bullshit."

"Sasuke!"

"Just because I left it alone for a couple days, doesn't mean I'm letting it go, so just tell me already."

"I told you everything, Sasuke…!" she winced as a wash of annoyance gripped his features. It was a look he gave her all too often when they were kids. "What do you want?"

"I want you to stop lying to me, Sakura."

She glared at him then; the fiery emeralds warning him against going any further with his actions. "I don't… expect _you_ to understand…" she muttered quietly.

His own black eyes narrowed in response. "Don't talk to me like that."

With what little strength she had, Sakura attempted to push the stronger boy off, but she could only struggle against his sudden firm restraints. Nevertheless, it didn't stop her from letting her inner frustrations find relief through her vocal chords.

"This isn't your problem, it's mine! And I don't need you interrogating me like this!"

"Of course it's my damn problem! Some bastard almost killed you and they're getting away with it!"

"WHY?" she snarled angrily "Why do you have to be the one who punishes them?!"

He scoffed. "You're my responsibility."

Surprise illuminated her eyes before returning to their cold, calculating fury. "I never asked to be taken care of like a child…" she hissed. "I never asked you! Who the hell made me **_your _**responsibility?"

Blinking at the question, Sasuke remained stoic as he leaned in closer, forcing the kunoichi to lean deeper against the tree to avoid the loss of her breathing rights. He appeared to frown at her initial reaction, but proceeded to close the space.

"I did."

* * *

**Author's note: **Sasuke's perspective is slowly being introduced… I still avoid going too indepth though. The next chapter's gonna continue with the SasuSaku goodness! Anyway, I was asked a couple times if my story's already finished. The answer is no. In fact, I will begin writing the next chapter as soon as I submit this one. In the very beginning I had chapters done in advance, but now it's all done on the fly.

Naruto news: (ch. 307) He's… really, REALLY tall… In comparison to Naruto, anyway... Meow.

Next chapter: one week.


	19. Chapter 19

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

* * *

**Chapter 19**

The only thing she felt at first, was pressure. Pressure against her back, pressure against her arms… the uncomfortable intensity that concerned her the most however, was the pressure against her mouth.

Sasuke hadn't given her any time to react before pressing his lips against hers. It was rather forceful to say the least, as if he expected her to escape and therefor had to trap her in place before she had the chance. His hands, gripping tightly at her forearms, kept her pushed against the tree, and with each millisecond that passed, he seemed to be pushing her harder and harder against it.

What was only a brief instant seemed like a lifetime as Sakura's eyes refused to blink. She stared in utter amazement at the Uchiha; his eyes closed, determination written about his features. She would've given anything to know what he was thinking.

It definitely wasn't long before alarm bells began ringing hazardously inside her head. The warning shot her arms up in an instant as she pushed her small fists against Sasuke's chest. Stubborn as usual, the boy unconsciously refused to comply as his grip tightened. She was sure he had forgotten that a lot of the injuries she sustained were situated in her arms. Pressure was rapidly being replaced by pain as a whimper escaped through her captured lips.

He released her quickly, from both the resistance in her body and the subtle plea in her voice. Though his dark eyes were apologetic, the tenacity was clearly evident in his face. It was unmistakable that Sasuke felt frustrated at having been torn from his goal.

"Sakura…" he breathed darkly.

It was as if she couldn't control her actions as she backed away from him somewhat clumsily. At a loss of words and at a loss of thought, she hated herself for stammering like an idiot.

"I-I… can't… um…"

She scolded herself inwardly. _Say something coherent, goddamnit! _

"… I just… I-I want to go home…"

It seemed Sasuke couldn't say anything either. All he could do was frown and watch her from the growing distance between them.

An escape plan began to form in her mind. She would run, scared out of her mind, back to her apartment and knock over anyone standing in the way. What she needed the most was to lock herself away and establish a clear state of mind. Clearly, such a thing did not exist for her at the moment.

Sakura had only made it two steps away from Sasuke before he angrily charged after her. Grabbing her forearm, he spun the surprised girl around to face him. "We're not finished," he said simply.

She tried pitifully to take her arm back. Due to her weakened state, a situation of this magnitude was not something she could handle at the moment. And she knew it, too. Both physically and mentally, Sakura was not prepared to deal with the stubborn prodigy, and whatever he forced her to say now would not be something she truly meant.

"Get off me, Sasuke…" growled a barely audible whisper. "I want to go home."

"Yeah, well, we don't always get what we want."

Finally, Sakura managed to squirm away from his grip. She ran a hand through her pink locks in frustration. "What do you… what do you _want_ from me? I can't—I don't understand… what just _happened_!"

"Would you calm down?" he sighed with impatience. "You're going to pass out."

"Sasuke…" she pleaded. Her eyes begged him to leave; to go away and give her time to absorb what had just happened. She needed to think… she just needed to think… It was unnerving to see Sasuke standing there, cool as a cucumber, as if nothing had happened.

While she was flustered, several strands of hair fell rebelliously at the side of her face. She hadn't even noticed until Sasuke casually reached forward and tucked the loose strand behind her ear. Deep crimson flushed her cheeks when he didn't pull his hand away. Instead, Sasuke gingerly held the side of her face, burning his charcoal eyes deep into hers from the intimidating height advantage.

"I can't explain it…" he admitted. "I can't figure it out." He really couldn't. Honest to God, he couldn't.

Sakura moved away from his touch. "Fine…" she answered. She took several steps away from him before turning to leave, stopping briefly to glance at him from over her shoulder.

"Then... I guess I'm on my own..."

* * *

She walked slowly down the streets of Konoha, pausing occasionally to wipe the confused tears that fell from time to time. The sleeve of Sakura's red kimono was turning damp from the careless gesture, but it was the least of her worries. She had left an angry, predator-like Sasuke in the woods behind her and the choice to either run back or run home was rapidly becoming a battle of epic proportions in the tiny confinements of her head.

A part of her wanted to turn back. She wanted to run back to Sasuke and tell him everything. She wanted to tell him about Orochimaru, about the threat, about protecting him… but most of all, she wanted to admit the fact that somehow, **_somehow_**, she still cared about him the way she always did… and probably always will. She just wanted to say it. If she couldn't admit it to Sasuke, than she could at least admit it to herself.

Wiping the sleeve across her eyes once more, she took a seat on the steps outside her apartment.

_I'm such a mess_, she thought miserably. _I guess I have to tell him…_

Overwhelmed with conflicting emotions, Sakura closed a hand over her mouth, fully aware that her eyes were red and glassed over from the barrage of tears that prepared to escape.

_Orochimaru was right… _She closed her eyes angrily. _Stupid Sasuke… Stupid, stupid, Sasuke…! _

A choked sob escaped her lips.

_Why now? Why is this happening **now**?_ …_He's so stupid…_

She hugged her shoulders and laughed bitterly to herself.

_**I'm** so stupid…_

It was inevitable, and she knew she had to face him sooner or later. She would have to tell him everything about what really happened that day and she dreaded what could potentially erupt with all her heart and soul. He would want to leave, to either obey Orochimaru or seek revenge, and the idea was scaring her more than she'd like.

She didn't want Sasuke to leave…

She just didn't.

Getting up to her feet, Sakura turned and looked at her apartment door in surprise. The door was broken and slightly off its hinges. At first she feared for her safety; a thief or potential murderer could be waiting for her inside.

_Orochimaru…?_

Before she could investigate, a voice called her from behind.

"Sakura!" Ino exclaimed. "Have you talked to Sasuke-kun? He was looking for you!"

Turning around, Sakura forced a smile for her blonde-haired friend, strategically making sure to block her view of the door. "Um… yeah, I did. Thanks."

"I think he was mad that you left the hospital so early… I mean, I saw him kick down your door after you didn't answer!"

Her green eyes widened in surprise. "Did he now…" She glanced over her shoulder to smirk knowingly at Sasuke's path of destruction.

"Yeah," Ino said shaking her head. The blonde kunoichi casually flicked her ponytail back over her shoulder. "He was really worried about you… I was actually surprised."

"'Worried'?" Sakura countered curiously.

Her friend instantly giggled. "Well… as worried as a block of ice can get." She paused to assess the pink-haired girl's appearance. "Are you okay? Your eyes are all red."

Sakura shook it off quickly. "Allergies… blah!"

"Really? I don't remember you—"

"Um… Ino?" she asked quickly. "Did… Sasuke say anything to you?"

The blonde rolled her eyes playfully. "Kind of. At first I thought he was coming over to ask me out, but he was all freaking out about you."

A surprised laugh escaped Sakura's throat. "What do you mean?"

"He asked if I'd seen you today or if I knew where you liked to be when you were alone."

"Really? What did you say?"

"I said I hadn't seen you. But when you like being alone, you go for a walk in the woods or something. He asked Lee and Hinata the same thing."

"Hmm…" she mused softly. "Thanks Ino. I'm going to get some rest now."

"Oh, for sure! Rest those injuries of yours, okay?"

Sakura bid her friend farewell and stared at her apartment door. Smiling, she poked the wood with a single finger and watched it awkwardly detach from the frame.

* * *

He wasn't sure how many hours had passed, but by the time it was dark, Sasuke was still wandering aimlessly though the village. As usual, his hands were in his pockets as he casually maintained a low profile from his peers and anyone else who could potentially annoy him; his thoughts were doing a good enough job already.

Sasuke didn't regret kissing her. Once he had touched those lips, a part of him refused to let go. Then, and only then, had he realized he had been longing to touch her. His own ruthless denial kept him from pursuing exactly what he wanted… but not anymore. Back in the woods, he couldn't stop himself from grabbing her, holding her… all within his own selfish possession. Sakura was his, and if his thoughts denied it, his actions sure didn't.

Although, he hadn't exactly been thinking clearly when he kissed her. He felt the slightest pang of guilt in knowing that Sakura was in weakened, vulnerable state, and in a way, he had surely taken advantage of it. But thinking back, there was no way he would've reconsidered his actions.

He had to do it.

He _needed_ to do it.

And it was in doing so that allowed him to think clearly on his own behalf. Finally… in this whole mess of crap that was going on, _something_ made sense.

"Sasuke-kun!"

He cringed instantly at having been jolted from his thoughts and scowled at the approaching figure.

Bubbly as usual, Ino, the annoying blonde-haired kunoichi, came rushing to his side. "I'm so glad I ran into you! And in the market! How about we get some din—!"

"Have you seen her?" Sasuke interrupted.

Shot down in mid-sentence, Ino shook her head with a defeated smile. "I guess it can't be helped…" she sighed. "Yeah, I did. But she said you two already talked."

He craned his neck to look behind her. "We did. But I wasn't finished."

"Oh, well, I saw her a while ago. She went home to rest."

He nodded, satisfied. "Good to know." And without another word, he sidestepped the blonde and continued on his way.

With her hands on her hips, Ino glared into the Uchiha's back. "You're welcome!"

* * *

Stopping in the doorway, Sasuke raised a confounded eyebrow at his own handiwork. Apparently, he had completely forgotten about kicking Sakura's door open in a fit of impatience.

Though the door was still standing, it was partly off its hinges and left halfway open. Sasuke shook his head bitterly, knowing he'd have to fix it for her as soon as possible. Moving past his own dilapidated creation, he casually entered the darkness of Sakura's apartment.

She had been half-asleep in the comforts of her small bed. Her body was exhausted, yet her troubled thoughts would not allow her to rest. Shivering, she wrapped her blanket tightly around her shoulders. It couldn't be helped, what with the cool night air cascading in from her partially opened door.

Sakura shut her eyes tightly, trying to ignore the sudden change of atmosphere in her tiny apartment. Though it had been completely silent, the unique scent had been a telltale factor.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered groggily.

Even in the darkness, she could tell Sasuke was smirking. "I told you to lock your door at night."

She yawned. "I could if you hadn't smashed it to pieces…"

Sakura hadn't turned around to face him, nevertheless he approached the bed and kneeled down beside it. "Sakura," he began seriously. "You're not safe sleeping here."

It was hard to form a sentence when she was so unbelievably tired. She sighed in response, and fell silent. Strange as it was, with Sasuke in the room, her mind finally willed her to rest.

Before allowing herself to sleep, however, Sakura's eyes opened slightly.

"But, at least _you're_ with me, right?"

Amused, Sasuke stared hard into her back. "Yeah. Right."

Feeling the mattress shift, Sakura peacefully closed her eyes as Sasuke lay down beside her. He turned on his side so he could pull her back against his chest, possessively wrapping an arm around her waist as he did so.

She fell asleep.

With his face resting against her strawberry-scented hair, Sasuke willed himself to stay awake and watch over her. But there was something so calming, so serene, about where he was and who he was with… everything troubled in his mind suddenly felt at ease.

Sasuke closed his eyes, holding Sakura protectively against him.

Suddenly, giving in wasn't such a bad thing after all.

* * *

**Author's note: **Writer's block is my deadliest foe. I got stuck in here somewhere… twice! I forgot where, but it was an awful place to be. Anyway, let's just say elaborating on how Sasuke broke Sakura's door saved my life. Hey, given the situation, is my Sasuke still in character?

And thank you for giving me 1000 reviews :) every single one motivates me to keep writing.

(ch. 308) Spoiler:

Are you ready?

I think the fight that almost broke out between Sasuke and Sakura gave me writer's block the second time. I was so MAD at Sasuke!

Next chapter: one week (I hope)


	20. Chapter 20

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

**

* * *

****Chapter 20 **

_Watch closely, Sakura-chan. _

Sasuke was jolted from his sleep when Sakura violently pushed him off her. She was still half-asleep, but strangled cries of terror and agony were ripping from her throat as if they would never cease. Her arms thrashed and kicked the air, forcing Sasuke to grab both her wrists and lie on top of her in an attempt to restrain the hysterical girl.

"Sakura!" He regretted shouting, but waking her up gently didn't seem possible while she was unconsciously fighting him off.

He held her wrists down against the side of her head. "Stop it!"

Her eyes opened, screams rapidly turning to uncontrollable sobs of despair. He released her wrists and didn't think twice before sliding an arm behind her neck and lifting the pink-haired girl to cry against his chest. He frowned questionably at his own actions, but continued to hold her… more so when he felt Sakura clutch desperately at his shirt.

"Tell me what happened that day," he said monotonously.

She only cried in response.

"Sakura," he pushed, holding both her shoulders and pulling her back to look at him. "Tell me what happened."

Tears glistened from her eyes as her lips parted helplessly… but no sound came out. She shook her head quickly at him, but Sasuke's patience in her had been utterly depleted. To hell with being patient—treating her like a child was not going to get him the truth any faster.

She was in so much pain, so much agony… Sasuke **had** to know who had done this to her.

His grip on Sakura's shoulders tightened. "Tell me!" he ordered. "Sakura, tell me!"

Shaking her head furiously, Sakura tried pushing Sasuke away, but his grip was too strong, and the fury alone would not release her.

"JUST TELL ME!"

"I can't!" she shouted back.

"WHY THE HELL NOT?"

"Because I don't—!"

She had frozen in mid-sentence, but the Uchiha would have none of it. "Sakura…" he growled impatiently.

"…I-I don't… " Her voice had never sounded so small. "I don't want you to go anywhere…"

It wasn't quite the answer Sasuke was expecting. His eyebrows narrowed in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Tears spilled from her eyes as she clasped them shut. A personal battle had broken out, her inner strength against her inner turmoil. The truth could no longer be hidden from those dark penetrating eyes. As if on instinct, Sakura's teeth dug painfully into her tongue when she attempted to speak. Telling Sasuke… Telling Sasuke the truth… it could be the end of everything.

Why did he have to be so damn stubborn? Why couldn't he just let it be?

_Because he cares too much, _Inner-Sakura sighed. _You know that now. _

It was **still** so hard to believe. Sakura had yet to fully grasp the idea, but knowing was enough… knowing that Sasuke was suddenly there for her without question was _more_ than enough. And even though she was still hesitant in acknowledging her own feelings, she knew for sure that they were accepting of Sasuke's. That would do for now.

Opening her eyes slowly, she tilted her face upward to meet his. She had to tell him… she had no choice.

After what seemed like hours, Sakura bit her lip in silent anticipation. She had just finished telling Sasuke exactly what had happened during her confrontation with Orochimaru and he, well, …he wasn't saying a whole lot. They sat on Sakura's bed in the darkness of her apartment, aided solely by the weak pale glow of an outside street lantern.

She sniffed on reflex, but was surprised when it seemed like the only sound in existence. Even though it was roughly several hours before the sun would rise, it was as if the entire universe had shushed down in order to hear Sasuke's response, which it would be getting… **anytime** now.

Sakura wrinkled her nose. Yes, anytime now would be great… fantastic, even.

But who was anyone kidding? Silence was crushing the room and would take no prisoners. Subdued as always, Sasuke sat on the edge of Sakura's bed in deep contemplation, and she could bet it wasn't about sunshine and puppies… although it very well could have, seeing as how items of that nature don't tickle his fancy anyway.

With his elbows resting on his knees, the stoic boy had his hands interlocked infront of his face—she could picture his expression from that posture alone.

"Sasuke," she whispered. "Why aren't you saying anything?"

Moving his hands from his face, he absently began cracking his knuckles. "…I knew it," he muttered.

"Knew what…?"

"You shouldn't have kept it to yourself. That was the most irresponsible thing you could've done."

She frowned. "Knew what?" she repeated darkly. She wouldn't put up with Sasuke's natural defense mechanism of berating when he didn't want to answer a question. He was one of the rare few who, instead of answering to something like 'how was your day?', would prefer tongue-lashing your existence until you left it alone.

Well, screw that. It was the story-telling hour for both of them.

"What is it you knew?"

Sasuke's hands dropped and gripped the side of the mattress. "Kabuto came to the manor to remind me I had a debt. He implied he knew you were staying with me that night."

Her green eyes locked to his back. "What…?"

"…So he must've told Orochimaru."

"B-But… you never said anything…!"

He sighed, tilting his face upwards. "I had my reasons, and I didn't think it was necessary."

"And I shouldn't have kept **this** to myself, huh? How _irresponsible_ of me," Sakura spat sarcastically.

Judging from the slight twitch of his shoulders, she knew her remark had rubbed him the wrong way. Glaring at her from over his shoulder, he retorted quickly. "No, you shouldn't have. This is **not** the same thing."

A skeptical laugh escaped Sakura's throat as she regarded his words in amazement. "Yes, it is! We kept these things a secret for reasons that wouldn't make sense to anyone but ourselves! If you're angry at me for keeping this to myself, then you're a hypocrite!"

Sasuke maintained his calm composure, turning away to avoid the ridicule in Sakura's eyes. "So what? This isn't about me doing one thing and then you being allowed to do the same. This isn't about fairness, and this isn't about equality… this is right or wrong. If I think I should keep something to myself, I can because I know better."

Clearly insulted, Sakura scowled at him through heavy breaths. She opened her mouth to administer a verbal ass kicking, but the Uchiha wasn't finished.

"In this case though… maybe I shouldn't have." With his black eyes transfixed on the floor, he swallowed hard. "I could've stopped this from happening to you, but I didn't think."

Sakura dropped her arms in defeat and rolled her eyes. "Well, don't go blaming yourself for it…" she sighed. "That's not what I meant."

Sasuke peered over his shoulder; an odd softness in his eyes she hadn't seen before. It didn't last long, however; just as quickly as it came, the look vanished and was quickly replaced by his cold, trademark intensity.

"What do we do about this, then…" he mumbled.

She shrugged… maybe a bit too casually. "Nothing."

Turning himself around to sit fully on the bed, he scowled openly at her. "You still think this is _your_ problem?"

"That's because it is."

"Hn. My mistake. I guess I was thrown off by the mentioning of my name."

Glaring, Sakura tried in vain to ignore the warmth taking over her eyes. "I just… I wanted to keep you away from Orochimaru… I didn't want you involved."

"Even if you hadn't told me just now, eventually this whole thing would've involved me anyway." He paused. "Don't even _try_ protecting me, Sakura. There's no point. You know I have to go."

Propping a pillow up against the headboard, the kunoichi folded her arms and leaned against it. "You're an expert at sensing their chakra, right? Both Orochimaru and Kabuto?"

"So?"

"Have they been around lately? Do you sense them spying on us at this very moment?"

With a skeptical look in his eyes, Sasuke craned his neck to observe the room and returned to frown impatiently at her. "No…"

"Have you sensed them at all in these past couple days? If they were anywhere near me while I was in the hospital, you'd know, right? You were with me all the time."

"I didn't sense anything…"

"You see? If _I_ sent someone to give a message, I'd want to make sure they were still alive enough to do it. It could be that they just stopped caring."

He quirked an eyebrow in an obvious display of doubt. "So… you're calling the threat a bluff…?"

"Well, maybe now it is. Maybe Orochimaru just wasn't serious."

"That's the dumbest—"

"Maybe he already found another vessel?"

"Sakura…"

"I mean no offense to you or anything, but maybe he found someone better and—"

"First of all," Sasuke interjected rudely. "Orochimaru wouldn't need to check on you. He knows how to hurt a person without actually killing them. Second, just because you haven't seen him for a while, doesn't mean he's stopped. The ritual can only be done every three years, remember? He still has a whole year left to torture you infront of me."

Sakura winced at his brief description of the snake's intent, shutting her eyes in disbelief. "When you're 19…" she whispered.

"Pretty much. Lastly, Orochimaru spent years teaching me everything he knows. I doubt he'll let me go to waste. Another vessel means another couple years he'd have to wait."

"Okay, fine," Sakura grumbled in defeat. "Are you just going to shoot down everything I say?"

"If you make it easy enough."

Rubbing a hand across her face tiredly, she shook her head and gazed out the window. The faintest hint of daylight could be seen through the subtle lightening of the night sky. The two of them possessed an unnatural amount of strength when it came to arguing… with each other that is. She hadn't realized it at first. Come to think of it, almost zero arguing was done when they were children. Young Sakura wouldn't dare oppose the almighty opinion of Uchiha Sasuke. But now, even though she still had some feelings for the boy, her personality refused to revert back to its old ways.

If she wanted to fight with Sasuke, then she damn well would.

However, as the sun slowly began to rise, she knew that this argument would not be easy to win. Being too scared to ask Sasuke what he wanted to do next, she decided to leave the subject alone for a while.

After another grueling episode of silence, Sakura sat up from the bed and let her feet touch the floor. "Do you want breakfast now? I'll make something," she offered tiredly.

He responded to her hospitality by getting up to his feet and walking over to the side of her bed. From where she sat, Sakura gazed up at him questionably.

"Back in," he instructed "You barely got any sleep."

She tried to argue, but the stubborn Uchiha was already 'assisting' her in lying back down against the pillow.

"I'll go out and get something for us. You stay here."

"Not giving me much of a choice, are you?" Sakura yawned.

Pulling the blanket up over her shoulders, Sasuke smirked arrogantly and left the room. He returned shortly after and left food on the kitchen table, pleased to find that Sakura was sound asleep. He sat next to her sleeping form on the bed and watched her expression closely. One could only imagine what Orochimaru put her through with his sick mind games.

There was no tension. In fact, Sakura's face appeared more calm and angelic than ever. Absently, he pushed a strand of hair from her face and continued to watch her. It didn't happen all the time, but if she woke up in absolute terror again he wanted to be there.

After an hour or so passed, the sun had risen, and the village was slowly coming to life outside. Leaning over Sakura's petite figure on the bed, Sasuke whispered in her ear on impulse. "Hey... Sakura..."

Her eyes fluttered open, and as she turned her head to look at him, Sasuke moved back from her ear at the same time. They both froze when it appeared their faces were just an inch apart.

Swallowing hard, she gazed up at him nervously… scared, even. He, in turn, frowned slightly at her expression and immediately got off the bed. "Never mind."

Sighing, Sakura closed her eyes in exasperation. _Awkward… _

"I'm going to see the Hokage today," he announced over his shoulder, busying himself idly in the kitchen.

"You are?" she answered quietly.

"She has to know."

"But—"

"Don't argue with me. Holding that kind of information to yourself is a punishable offense, Sakura."

Sitting up, she rubbed the back of neck irritably. "Okay, okay… I'll go with you then."

"No," he stated simply. "_You_ stay here, eat something, and go back to bed."

She glared instantly. "You're really campaigning for babysitter of the year, aren't you?"

"Be thankful I'm not dragging you back to the hospital."

On queue, Sakura rolled her eyes defiantly. Did Sasuke always have to be like that? Just when she thought they were getting along as equals, he would turn around and treat her like some poor defenseless damsel on the verge of fainting. It was obvious now that she would have to consider the fact that Sasuke's way of caring wasn't exactly dictionary defined. He had his own ways of dealing with foreign emotions, and she had to remind herself constantly of such a fact. Sasuke was the type to give orders and needed everything to be controlled and closely monitored by him. Expressions of concern and chivalrous action were released in small doses, and were often mixed up with his primary way of thinking. It could only be described as some sort of manly power trip; a trip fueled purely by gallons of testosterone. And as such, Sasuke had the unconscious need to guard and defend what he considered to be his property.

She had gathered as much when he bluntly stated she was his responsibility.

In a weird way… it was kind of nice to know.

* * *

"Jeez…" 

Annoyed at the constant barrage of complaints, Neji eyed his teammate irritably. "I told you there would be no stopping for meals after breakfast."

"I didn't think you were serious," Naruto pouted. "And besides, it's not that. I just wanna get back to Konoha and see how Sakura-chan's doing."

Touching his chin, Neji pondered thoughtfully to himself. "It's been over two weeks since we last saw her… I'm sure she's already left the hospital."

"I hope so," the blonde answered quietly. "I should've stayed with her. That mission was a total waste of time."

"I beg to differ, Naruto-kun," a voice protested from behind. "No mission is ever a waste of time."

Naruto smirked knowingly at his other teammate. "Of course you'd say that, Fuzzy-brows," he sighed. "But c'mon! You call guarding a bunch of boxes on a ship a mission? We just sat there half the time!"

Neji quickly threw him a look. "Naruto, those boxes were filled with priceless artifacts."

The blonde raised his eyebrows in surprise "Really? I thought we were just moving someone's old furniture…"

Shaking his head, the Hyuuga placed a hand on his forehead tiredly. "Were you paying attention at all…?"

"Hey, don't go thinking I wasn't!"

"Calm down, calm down…" Lee interjected. "Look, I can see the gates of Konoha. We're almost home. "

"Kick ass!" Naruto exclaimed as he ran ahead of the two boys. "I can't wait to see Sakura-chan!" As the gates came into view, he heard Neji calling after him. "It's after midnight."

"Oh. Yeah, right… well then I'll just beat Sasuke out of his sleep and we can trai—!" The fox suddenly skidded to a stop when his view of the village was obscured. Stepping out from the shadows was Sasuke; a backpack slung over his shoulder.

* * *

"You told me last week you wouldn't, Sasuke…" 

He stopped in his tracks. "It's late, Sakura. Go back to the manor."

"You promised!"

His fist clenched angrily in response. She had stopped him in the middle of the stone-paved walkway; the only exit out of Konoha. He had noted the bench just several feet from where he stood. The bench where, after he had rendered Sakura unconscious during his last departure, he had laid her to rest. Before, the moment had seemed somewhat insignificant in the back of his mind. But now…

_Sakura… Thank you. _

He knew she felt it too.

Glancing over his shoulder, Sasuke raised an eyebrow defiantly at her. "I never promised anything."

Her fiery emerald eyes glared with equal intensity. "Were you… were you just going to leave? Just like that?"

"I wanted to avoid having this conversation."

Her lips parted, astounded by his vile audacity. "I can't believe you…" she whispered. "Sasuke—"

"We've been over this, Sakura," he snapped. "Orochimaru must be assassinated. Your life is in danger otherwise. Even Tsunade agrees with me."

"You **know** it's a trap."

He scowled. "Of course. I'm not stupid."

"Yet there you go, marching to an oblivion."

"I suppose you have a better plan? What is it, 'sit around and wait for death to come to _you'_?"

"Well at least it's just me! I can take care of myself!"

Fury riveting through his veins, the scowl on his face deepened. "…If you think I'd let that happen..."

"I am NOT as weak as you think I am, Sasuke! Stop protecting me like this!"

"I don't do it because I think you're weak! I do it because—!" The words froze instantly in his mouth. "Because I… just… Never mind. Just go back to the house, Sakura."

He was just about to turn his back when her voice stopped him. "At least take me with you."

Naturally, there was no thinking twice about it. "No."

"Sas—"

"Stay here where you can stay safe and stay the hell out of my way."

He turned his back and was instantly filled with regret. Okay, so that hadn't come out quite the way he planned, but it was true. If Sakura tagged along it was one more person to keep track of and one more person to look out for. It was bad enough Tsunade had ordered he take the dobe with him.

Of course, it wasn't as if he felt Sakura was completely helpless… but given the circumstances, he knew Sakura would be a prime target for Orochimaru if they were all in the same room. There was no way in hell he would risk it.

Sasuke waited for her retort, but only a cold silence greeted him from behind. He gritted his teeth. She had to say something back… it was Sakura for crying out loud. If she said something back than he knew he hadn't really hurt her with his words. He waited, and soon, he could hear the sound of her retreating footsteps.

He closed his eyes in deep frustration.

It was probably better this way.

* * *

"S-Sasuke?" Naruto asked in confusion. "What are you doing out there? Did you come out to meet us?" 

"Hardly," the other boy scoffed. Instead of explaining himself, Sasuke's attention immediately flew to Neji and Lee, who, as they were approaching, were equally surprised to see him standing there.

"Going somewhere, Sasuke?" Neji asked suspiciously.

The Uchiha smirked. "I am, actually."

At hearing this, Naruto gawked openly at his best friend. "You are? For real?"

"I have a mission."

Lee quickly expressed the same reaction as the blonde. "You do? They've already started assigning you?"

Neji raised an eyebrow. "…Alone?"

An intense glaring match broke out quickly between the two prodigies. Angered by Neji's insolence, Sasuke folded his arms and approached the other boy. Smirking, Neji stood his ground and didn't bat a single eyelash as the Uchiha met him at eye level.

"I don't have to explain shit to you."

They were two aggressively territorial animals fighting for dominance—probably the only thing they could mutually agree on. And even though Sasuke couldn't waste any more time on the Hyuuga boy, that didn't mean he wouldn't some other day. And when that day came, he would happily smash his fist into Neji's face.

Plain and simple, Sasuke leaned in and narrowed his eyes threateningly. "Don't try anything while I'm gone."

There was no need to clarify. Judging from the arrogant smirk that appeared on his face, he knew Neji understood what he was talking about. Turning away, Sasuke grabbed Naruto's jacket collar. "Come on, dobe. You've been assigned as my teammate for this."

"I have? Really? Hey—! Ow!"

Dragging the blonde with him, Sasuke glanced over his shoulder at the other two men. "You two," he called back. "Report back to Tsunade."

"That seemed a bit peculiar," Lee noted, scratching the top of his head.

"We'll confirm with the Hokage," Neji shrugged. "If Sasuke's up to something else, we'll find out."

They continued on their way, entering the gates of Konoha as they tried to understand what had just happened.

"I'm not sure about that… he's taking Naruto-kun with him, after all."

"Perhaps," the other boy mused. "A two-man operation… Could be an assassination job."

"An assassination job right after being on probation. Seems hasty."

The Hyuuga shrugged. "Maybe Sasuke has a knack—" He stopped in mid-sentence, eyes diverting quickly to what was waiting ahead.

Lee followed his gaze and dropped his mouth in surprise.

"Sakura-san…?"

The pink-haired medic sat on the bench just ahead of them, cradling her face in her hands.

* * *

"We could be gone for months, Sasuke," Naruto informed sternly. 

"I know."

"We have to train. You have to teach me how to counter his strengths. And if Orochimaru is still where you think he is, getting there on foot could take weeks."

"All the more reason we should shut up and keep moving."

He followed after the Uchiha, still trying to decipher the facts as they were given to him. Orochimaru and Kabuto had attacked Sakura, and would continue to threaten her life unless Sasuke returned to become Orochimaru's vessel. He would return, but not for that purpose. Under the order of the Hokage, they were to assassinate both Orochimaru and Kabuto. Secretly, Naruto felt a sense of pride in knowing he had been chosen for such a mission, but he didn't dare voice it. His thoughts were too preoccupied with the infuriating resentment he held towards that snake bastard. Once Sasuke had told him the truth, he was officially more than willing to help.

He could already feel the powerful red chakra propelling his movements.

"Sasuke," he began, trying his best to restrain his anger through civil conversation. "Does Sakura-chan know about this?"

Only silence came from the other boy. Naruto quirked an eyebrow; perhaps Sasuke hadn't heard him.

"Sasuke—"

"She knows," he interrupted sharply. If it were possible, he seemed more pissed off than usual.

Naruto frowned. "I take it Sakura-chan didn't want you to go…" He wasn't as idiotic as he projected himself to be. It had become obvious in the hospital that Sasuke's feelings toward Sakura had taken an unexpected turn and mentioning her name was now a sensitive issue.

Ahead of him, he watched Sasuke pause in his movements.

_Sakura's footsteps echoed loudly against the pavement as she made her way back home, brushing her arm furiously against her eyes. She didn't check to see if Sasuke had left yet, or if he was still standing with his back to her, but she didn't care. There was nothing she could do to stop him and nothing she could do to stop the painful words that fell from his mouth every so often. _

_This was just the way he had to be. _

_But before Sakura could take another step, a blur flashed quickly infront of her and she bumped right into Sasuke's chest. He had seemingly teleported with his intense speed capabilities. _

_When hot tears began streaming from her eyes, she angrily tried to push Sasuke out of her way. She hated crying infront of him—which was obvious. She hated looking weak and helpless, and he didn't help by perpetuating his beliefs on her vulnerability. _

_He expertly took hold of both her wrists before she could move around him. "Sakura," he said calmly. _

_"Get off…" But her words were cut off when his mouth quickly descended upon hers. The kiss was brief as Sakura almost instantly pulled away, turning her head so she wouldn't have to look Sasuke in the eyes. _

_"I hate you…" she whispered softly. "…I hate you, Sasuke." _

_"Hn," he smirked. His features softened as he leaned his forehead against hers. "I know, Sakura." _

"I'm sure she didn't want to be abandoned by you _again_," Naruto continued. "Maybe we should bring her with us?"

"That's not an option."

"She's a medic."

"I _**said**_ that's **not** an option," Sasuke spat angrily. "I'm the team leader so shut the hell up. We don't need her."

The blonde sighed, shaking his head at his friend's arrogance. "I hope you know what you're doing…"

**

* * *

Author's note: (chapter has been edited to include the TWO WEEKS EARLIER segment - works much better in here, I think!) **Whoa… I just submitted this chapter yesterday and it's already received more than 70 reviews. You guys are unbelievable. UNbeliev**ABLE**! If this were a party, I would dance with you all. Thank you so much, you have no idea how much this motivates me. …+blinks+… unbelievable… Anyway, I liked jumping back and forth with this chapter (haha, the whole Tarantino bit) I thought I'd so something remotely clever for the 20th chapter and the restating of the summary quote. For the next chapter, you guys are in for a surprise! Dun dun DUN. 

To elaborate: Manga Sasuke's looking DAMN fine (especially on the intro cover… good lord, his chest!) And I agree with a lot of you; he's like, _dead_ inside.


	21. Chapter 21

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

**

* * *

****Chapter 21 **

Through gritted teeth, Sasuke scowled angrily at the blood staining his fingertips; he had clutched the base of his neck so aggressively, the skin had torn under his nails. The curse mark was pulsing continuously now, sending tremors of pain rocketing throughout his entire upper body. And it only worsened with every footstep—every footstep closer to _him_.

Again it pulsed, and the only alternative to clawing his flesh apart was to grip the stone wall beside him.

It had been both the salvation—and the cause—of all his problems. Just at the base of Sasuke's neck was Orochimaru's curse mark; three black commas embedded permanently into his skin. Like venom from a snake, it had been punctured into his existence years ago—a curse he had learned to live with.

But at the moment, it was a painful reminder of his connection to that bastard of a snake man. Acting as a radar system, the mark had suddenly gone haywire, alerting him of Orochimaru's presence somewhere in the vicinity.

He had to pull it together. He had to be on his guard. There was a good chance that the plan would fail, and if it did, he had to be ready for anything. Unfortunately, the curse mark's onslaught of pain was slowing him down both mentally and physically. It was to be expected, after all… Sasuke had spent a great deal of time _away_ from Orochimaru. He had discovered in his earlier years that the more time he spent with the snake man, the less the curse mark would sting. In time, it had stopped hurting all together. So, leaving and then coming back after several years would no doubt bring the curse mark roaring back to life.

Hearing the footsteps behind him, Sasuke quickly straightened up and tried to hide the look of absolute hatred in his eyes. He kept calm and composed, walking in the same direction as the footsteps but not turning around to address them.

"You're finally back, Sasuke-kun."

With a hand holding the back of his neck, he shrugged noncommittally. "Whatever."

Kabuto chuckled. "I take it you got Orochimaru's message?"

It took all the strength he had not to turn around crack Kabuto's skull with his fist. "Loud and clear."

"And you aren't angry?"

"Would it matter?" he scoffed, "I'm just here to repay my debt."

Kabuto's eyebrows lifted in amusement. "What about Sakura-san?"

He hesitated, shutting his eyes in regret before answering. "I only need her for the resurrection of my clan. She's an asset for now, but if you kill her behind my back I could always just find someone else."

The silver-haired medic stared hard into the Uchiha's back. With a smirk, he shook his head. "Still as cold as ever, aren't you Sasuke-kun?"

Finally, Sasuke looked over his shoulder to gaze nonchalantly at the other man. "Where is he?"

"Orochimaru? He's in his chambers. I'll tell him you're here."

"Fine… I'll wait for him then."

"I think you'll do best to stay in your old room. You remember where that is?"

Sasuke could only frown warily at the surrounding corridors just ahead of him. "I'll figure it out eventually…"

"I remember a time when you knew this place like the back of your hand. After all these years it must seem like a maze all over again."

He glared sharply. "Just tell him I'm here already."

Shrugging, Kabuto walked past him and proceeded down one of the many poorly lit hallways. "Your lack of patience has always been a problem," he remarked casually.

Sasuke watched the older man carefully, a look of doubt in his eyes. It was possible Kabuto suspected something, but it was difficult to determine at this point. He waited till the medic was out of his sight before tugging slightly at his shirt collar. "Dobe, did you get any of that?"

"_Yeah,_" came Naruto's voice from the device. "_Do you think we made it in?_"

"I don't know. Seems like it."

"_Well, don't do anything stupid; we can't get cocky just yet. Better go to your room like he said._"

The Uchiha sighed deeply, looking from one hallway to the next. "This should be fun…" he murmured.

They had left the village of Konoha exactly one month ago. Half the time was spent travelling while the other half was spent training. They had arrived at Orochimaru's hideout just several weeks before, making sure to setup their campsite a safe distance away. They had to remain diligent and inconspicuous, drawing as little attention to themselves as possible along the way. The following weeks were spent training and preparing for what was to come and what was to be expected. Sasuke had to teach Naruto several new defense tactics that were vital if he were to face Orochimaru.

"_Make sure you remember your way around! You're suppose to draw me a map!_"

"Stop worrying," Sasuke hissed. "I'll see you after sunset. We can't keep talking through this thing—it's getting risky."

"_Fine. Oh hey, Sasuke?_"

"What is it?"

"_Can you bring me something to eat?_"

Grimacing with disgust, he shut off the tiny transmitter and proceeded to look for his room. He had walked through these hallways plenty of times; sometimes he'd be battered and beaten, smearing blood against the walls as he staggered back to his room after training. Other times he'd strutted smugly with an air of confidence, having either acquired a new technique or surpassed Orochimaru's expectations for the day.

Turning down a familiar corridor, he stopped to frown at a rather large dent in the wall's surface. Now he knew he was going the right way. Years ago, after being beaten by Orochimaru in a sword match, Sasuke had stormed angrily to his room, abandoning the snake man's lecture in a stubborn fit of defiance. Just before reaching his bedroom, however, Orochimaru appeared behind him and casually drove his katana right through Sasuke's abdomen, cracking the sword into the wall and impaling the boy against it.

"If you can't protect yourself from this," Orochimaru chuckled against his ear, "you can't protect yourself from anything."

Just as easily as he had stabbed it through, the snake Sanin removed the sword and let the boy crumple to the floor, clutching his chest in a pitiful display of agony. Shaking his head in disappointment, Orochimaru left him to suffer, ordering Kabuto to wait for a couple minutes before healing him.

Sasuke scowled at the memory, tracing the dent in the wall with his fingertips. It wasn't the only time Orochimaru had nearly killed him for fun. Of course, he insisted that everything he did served no sadistic purpose. He wanted Sasuke to _learn_, to _endure, _to realize that he could not accomplish his goals without him.

Weeks later, Sasuke watched his sensei stumble to the floor, licking his pale lips in amusement at the blood pouring from his freshly cut shoulder. The Uchiha remained placid, kicking the sword from Orochimaru's hand and raising his own against the snake man's throat:

"So what's next?"

He shook off the distracting memories and opened the wooden door to his room. Without a second glance, Sasuke threw his backpack to the floor. Nothing of real importance was inside—just shuriken and a change of clothes. Everything that gave away his true intent was with Naruto.

He quietly sat on his bed, gazing absently at the walls, the floor, and the training uniform—oddly still intact—that remained hanging above the one nightstand by his bed. He had refused to wear it at first; the outfit was traditionally worn amongst those affiliated with the Sound Village. Turning his chin arrogantly at it, Sasuke had sent the offending item away. With a roll of his eyes, Kabuto returned it with the Uchiha emblem sewn onto the back. Being met halfway usually wasn't good enough, but he had reluctantly accepted the uniform after approving its changes.

Reaching up, Sasuke fingered the material. Being in this room brought about the strange compulsion to reminisce. He lay down and folded his arms behind his head, frowning at the unsettling discomfort he was experiencing in what was once considered a second home. Turning his head to the side, he snorted when he noticed that a piece of the bedpost was missing.

He was always cranky after being woken up.

A fight had broken out between Kabuto and himself early one morning when the medic nin came pounding at his chamber. Struggling to control his temper, Sasuke solemnly opened the door and promptly told the other man to go fuck himself. Similar sentences were exchanged back and forth, and eventually, Kabuto was violently slammed against the bedpost, snapping it clean off in the process. After that, everyone in the vicinity was thoroughly warned against disturbing the Uchiha's sleep.

Sasuke's jet black eyes continued to scan the room. One door, one bed, one nightstand, one oil lamp… everything was where he left it, yet nothing seemed familiar. The room seemed smaller, or… was it bigger? It soon dawned on him that despite the number of years he had resided here, he never once took the time to sit down and actually _notice_ his surroundings. He had been aggressively hell bent on one thing and one thing alone. The overwhelming need to kill his brother had been on Sasuke's mind day and night. Nothing else mattered.

He shifted his position, resting the back of his hand against his forehead. There was some time to kill it would seem. Creasing his forehead in irritation, Sasuke willingly thought about the one person that, ironically enough, never once crossed his mind while he was here before.

"Sakura…" he murmured softly. _I hope you're over it by the time I get back..._

Naruto's words still nagged irritably in the back of his mind:

"I'm sure she didn't want to be abandoned by you _again_."

At first, he had absolutely no idea what the blonde was talking about. Sasuke hadn't looked down on his decision to leave Konoha. After all, it ultimately led to his brother's death. He had done what he needed to do, and in his mind, it had been the _right_ thing to do. To regret was to spit on his family's grave.

_I didn't **abandon** anybody, _he proclaimed stubbornly._ I didn't **abandon**_ _Sakura. Everything I did was for my own revenge. I had no intentions toward anyone else and I broke the bonds as I left. Why the fuck should— I... broke… _

An image of the pink-haired girl appeared in his mind. It was the first he saw of her upon his return to the village. In a hospital bed, he had opened his eyes at the faintest sound of footsteps in his room. Sakura had been there; placing flowers into a vase perched on his windowsill. She smiled the way she always did and he couldn't help but notice the vibrancy in those sparkling green eyes. Her voice was the same: annoyingly sweet, but soothing nonetheless as she carefully wrapped the bandage around his arm.

Then, in the blink of an eye, Sakura was gone… and she never came back to see him again.

_…I broke the bonds as… I left… _

Things would only get difficult if history had a knack for repeating itself… and, if leaving Sakura behind and denying her wish to join him qualified, then 'difficult' was well on its way. When he left before, Sakura moved on without him. There was no affection, no devotion, no "Sasuke-kun! Sasuke-kun!"…Nothing. He had been careless with her feelings—throwing them out the window as she shoved them through the door with all her heart. Regarding Sakura, there was nothing more he wanted less.

And then it was gone.

A paranoid thought entered Sasuke's mind at the realization that it could happen again. He had left exactly the same way as before… it was quite possible for Sakura to move on again.

He began grinding his teeth in resentment.

And with Neji around to take advantage of her...

Closing his eyes, Sasuke mentally began counting to ten. He wouldn't let that stuck-up pansy deter his judgment while there were more important matters at hand. The only thing he could do now was to **not** think about it; he would deal with everything once he got back from the mission.

Immediately, Sasuke's eyes flew to the door. He knew right in that instant that Kabuto's fist was just inches away from touching it. "Come," he snapped tersely, before a single knock could be heard.

A defeated sigh escaped Kabuto's throat as he lazily opened the door to Sasuke's chamber. Adjusting his glasses, he frowned at the boy's relaxed disposition.

"Making yourself right at home again, I see."

With a knowing smirk, Sasuke folded his arms behind his head once more. "New glasses, Kabuto?"

One could not miss the anger that flashed quickly behind those reflective lenses. Kabuto sneered and lifted his chin. "Orochimaru would like to resume your training first thing in the morning. You better practice on the sparring grounds before then."

The Uchiha got up quickly and planted his feet on the floor. "I'm ready," he shrugged as he proceeded to stand. No sooner had he taken his first step then the curse mark began pulsing madly beneath his skin.

"Argh!" Knees hitting the floor, Sasuke clutched furiously at the base of his neck. At the sheer force of his grip, he knew he had torn the skin again. It was bad. Really bad. It was as if the curse mark was experiencing power withdrawal and was lashing out at his entire being.

With a casual tilt of his head, Kabuto made no effort to assist the suffering teen. "It's because you were gone for so long," he stated plainly. "Now it's a bit… sensitive."

It took all the strength the dark-haired boy could muster to remove the hand from his neck. Breathing heavily, Sasuke clenched his fists against the floor and endured the curse mark's wrath. He had to make it adjust to Orochimaru's presence or he'd be worse than useless.

Sitting back on his knees, the Uchiha slowly began to stand. Impressed with his quick recovery, Kabuto could only watch the boy in amazement, but received a deadly glare in response.

"Anything else?" Sasuke seethed. "Because you can get the hell out now."

The medic adjusted his glasses once more before shaking his head contemptuously. "Just like old times, huh?"

* * *

Entering the small tent, Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows at the amusing sight before him. Naruto sat cross-legged in the middle of their tent, holding up two fingers infront of his face in deep contemplation. He didn't seem to notice that Sasuke had returned. 

Sighing, the Uchiha thumped Naruto's head with his fist, literally knocking the boy out of his trance.

"Ow!" the blonde protested.

"What are you doing?"

Squinting from the discomfort, Naruto opened his large blue eyes to scowl openly at the other boy. "What am _I_ doing? What are _you_—!" He froze, staring his best friend up and down in bewilderment. "…WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?"

Raising an eyebrow, Sasuke looked down to assess his own appearance. Wanting to convince Kabuto that he was heading off to train privately, he had changed into his old uniform. A white, open kimono with black pants, tied at the waist with the Sound's trademark fashion accessory: a coiled-up piece of purple rope. The only thing that differentiated him was the Uchiha emblem on the back.

"It's the Sound uniform," Sasuke answered in annoyance. "I'm trying to keep in character."

"Yeah, right…" the blonde scoffed. "All you want is an excuse to show off your chest."

Ignoring the ridiculous accusation, Sasuke took notice of the many scrolls that were scattered around where Naruto was sitting. "You're studying?" he asked skeptically.

"I _was_ conserving chakra until you busted in."

The other boy smirked in amusement. He was actually impressed with the efforts of his best friend. "You've really changed yourself, haven't you dobe?"

"Heh. Yeah, well it's been a couple years, hasn't it?"

It had indeed. Their last mission together had been roughly five years ago when they were barely teenagers. After the occasional sparring matches since Sasuke's return, both had been equally impressed with the other's improvement. However, their sparring was considered 'play fighting'; they had yet to witness any new jutsu skills developed by the other. Because such power could only be called upon for a legitimate reason, they had to wait eagerly to see the other's true talent.

It was evident that in secret, both Naruto and Sasuke still harbored their childhood rivalry: the need to compare themselves in terms of skill. Fortunately, for the time being they were better at being friends than being enemies… even though it didn't seem that way most of the time.

"Oh hey!" Naruto exclaimed, grabbing his backpack and placing it on his lap. "There's something I meant to give back to you…" His words drifted as he rummaged through his belongings.

"What?" the other boy asked impatiently.

"Found it!" He tossed a metal object in Sasuke's direction. Catching it effortlessly, the Uchiha stared at the Konoha headband in surprise. Though a deep gash was running across the leaf symbol, Sasuke could still recognize it as his own against his fingertips.

"You… kept this…?"

"I tried to pawn it, but with the scratch and all…" Naruto smirked. "Yeah I kept it."

"Hn." Sasuke held the object tightly in his hand, feeling the pieces of blue fabric fall and graze his wrist. "Thanks for taking care of it."

The blonde shrugged. "Well, I knew you'd be back," he replied smugly. Reaching into his bag once more, he held up a small notebook. "Don't forgot to log what happened today—baachan wants the report as detailed as possible."

Before resuming his chakra training, Naruto noted the curious way Sasuke extended his arm to retrieve the book, and again when the dark-haired boy took a seat on the floor. His movements were rigid, and it was hard to miss the painful wince in his eyes.

"Are you okay?"

Sasuke immediately threw him a look. "Yeah, why?"

"Did you hurt your shoulder or something?"

The Uchiha frowned inwardly at his ill-conceived attempts to hide his discomfort. "It's just the curse mark… It's not used to Orochimaru being so close after all this time."

Naruto scrunched his face skeptically at the explanation. "Are you sure that's what it is?"

"Of course I'm sure," he spat. "But we may need to stay here longer than I thought. I can't fight Orochimaru with this mark slowing me down."

"Why don't we send for someone to seal it?"

"Sealing won't work. I still need to _use_ the curse mark's power, dobe."

The blonde froze, keeping his composure yet watching Sasuke carefully from the corner of his eye. "…You do?"

"The longer I stay here, the more the curse mark will stop reacting," Sasuke murmured, having not heard Naruto's inquiry. "When the pain stops I'll be at my full strength. That's when we make our move."

"Yeah, but—"

"Before I forget..." Reaching into his pocket, Sasuke handed the fox boy a folded piece of paper. "That's a detailed map of the hideout… I got used to the place faster than I thought."

**

* * *

Author's note: **Just incase you haven't noticed, the previous release of Chapter 21 was edited to fit inside Chapter 20 (it was mentioned in the reviews that the segment being alone in its own chapter felt like an 'anime filler' – to which I agreed. So I scrapped the whole idea). Now we're back onto the story! Sorry about the wait and all, but the whole storyline seems to be changing every minute with me. In the end I was trying to be subtle, but I think I rushed it. 

Haha if anyone out there has a portable Playstation (PSP), you've got to play the Narutimate Hero game. I don't even know what I'm doing! I just jab at the buttons and watch Sasuke and Naruto do wicked crazy things.


	22. Chapter 22

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

* * *

**Chapter 22**

"What _is_ this?"

Before answering, the legendary snake Sanin grinned in amusement at the surprise painted on the other boy's face. "You can feel it, can't you? How the mark is evolving with you?"

He would not agree. Not ever. It was almost a natural instinct to stay as far away as possible from being obedient. Sasuke tentatively touched the back of his neck and scoffed his forced disagreement. "It's not doing anything. I can't even feel it now."

"Then why the confusion on your face, Sasuke-kun? Why do your features contort with such pain and agony every so often?"

_Fuck off, that's why. _The Uchiha boy was kneeling on the ground—supported solely by the katana he had pierced into the stone floor. Growling, he forced himself up and stubbornly defied his master's words to the best of his ability. Everything that man said either patronized him or simply fucked with his head.

"Stop talking already. It's only doing this to me because _you're_ here."

"Is that what you think? But it seems you've been back for several months. Surely you would've gotten used to it by now…"

Sasuke clutched the handle of his katana harder. The sharingan in his eyes activated, he could only glare daggers at the snake man. His thoughts were strangely muddled, and a lot of Orochimaru's words had been completely blocked out. Why the hell was he still talking?

The curse mark continued to savagely torture his body, but Sasuke merely increased his grip on the slowly distorting sword handle. _I'll kill you when this stops… I'll kill you… I'll kill you…_

"You aren't looking well, Sasuke-kun. Perhaps our training for the day should come to an end."

"I'm _fine_!" Sasuke snapped defensively… but his master had already turned his back and was casually exiting the room.

"Your training is done," Kabuto sneered, announcing his presence from the flickering shadows. "So either do something productive or get back to your room."

The younger boy glared instantly. "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough to watch you fail miserably."

Shrugging off the rather scornful comment, he wiped the sweat from his brow and assessed Kabuto from the corner of his eye. He was an asshole, but he was a medic nonetheless.

"What's the deal with this thing?" he asked, tilting his chin in the direction of his shoulder.

"The curse mark? It's still hurting you?"

"Not as much as before, but it's still there sometimes."

With a trademark adjusting of his glasses, Kabuto simply shrugged and chuckled lightly to himself. "I've told you already; the longer you stay around Orochimaru, the less it'll hurt. You've spent too much time away."

Scowling, Sasuke shook his head and placed a hand at his neck. "I've been here for _months_ and the improvement's been subtle."

"What's your hurry? You'll be 19 soon," the medic reminded. Walking past the Uchiha, he paused to stare down at the boy from over his shoulder. "And you won't have to worry about feeling that pain ever again."

"Screw off…" the boy hissed, but Kabuto's retreating footsteps left him trailing in mid-sentence. His black eyes hardened against the older man's back, narrowing with each echoing footstep. Before Sasuke knew what was happening, his fist lurched forward and smashed into the closest wall. Knuckles twitching violently, his features twisted with sadistic pleasure upon seeing the deep crimson flow across his hand. It felt good. It felt **really** good.

Wait. That was all he had to do. Wait just a bit more. Wait, stay, and learn… Then the pain would cease. He could kill Orochimaru and protect Sakura. With all the power he could muster from the curse mark, and all the new things that stupid bastard was teaching him now… it would be so easy. This victory would be _his_.

The curse mark pulsed, but Sasuke forced himself to ignore it; staring with amusement at the blood that cascaded from his own torn flesh. Feeling lightheaded, he chuckled ever so slightly. He felt giddy. The need to kill someone, the power he had to do it… It was exciting.

Intoxicating...

* * *

"It started… maybe a couple months ago. It was the way he talked at first. He'd make sense in the beginning, but then he'd start mumbling to himself—nothing I could really understand…" 

"What else?"

"The eyes. They starting looking right through me… like I wasn't even there."

"Well yes, but Sasuke—"

"_More so_ than usual."

She blinked. "Oh."

"Something's really wrong, Sakura-chan. I think he's fallen into some sort of trap."

The pink-haired kunoichi sat back against the sofa, trying her best to absorb the information her friend had just dropped on her lap. Naruto had knowingly arrived on the front step of the Uchiha Manor—desperate to speak with Sakura about the disturbing events that had been taking place.

He knew exactly where to find her.

Several months back, the pink-haired kunoichi vaguely remembered coming home from a meeting with the Hokage and finding her front door fixed and in better shape than it was before. Leaning smugly against the railing was Sasuke, determined to illustrate the fact that manly household tasks were a piece of cake. She couldn't enjoy it long, however…

"Sasuke! You fixed it alrea—!"

"That's so you can still get a decent price for this place. You're staying with me."

From then on, Sakura had shyly considered the two of them _official_… whatever could be considered official anyway. Sasuke was never too verbal on the subject. If she tried to ask, he would stare blankly at her before nervously looking away and telling her to stop worrying about it. Their "relationship" still lacked a great deal of communication…but that was strangely all right. Sometimes, all Sasuke needed to do was lightly thump the top of her head with his fist, and with the smallest of smiles, silently showed his affection.

When Naruto reached Konoha that night, Sakura was lying awake as usual. Day after day, month after month, she waited for Sasuke to step triumphantly through the front door. Time had passed at an agonizing pace after Sasuke's departure. Determined to keep busy, Sakura had marched straight to her sensei's office and requested a rapid advancement with her training and studies. With frustration, concern, and anger riveting through her system at all times, finding the motivation to train was easy. To say the least, Haruno Sakura had indeed, kept herself busy.

But every night remained the same. Sakura would lay awake, and listen…

If Sasuke returned, she'd be upset with him of course, and he would probably shrug and state how annoying she was for being grossly impatient. It didn't matter. Whatever the confrontation, Sasuke would still be there; that was really all that was important.

Jumping from Sasuke's bed, Sakura was relieved to hear the faintest sound of knocking at the front door that night. Halfway through the corridor, she froze. If it was Sasuke, why would he knock before entering his own house?

The question lingered in her mind as she slid the door open. Standing before her was Naruto; clad in his usual black and orange attire, he looked strangely unsettled and worn. A smile had adorned her face upon seeing her friend at the door, but in return, she only received a slight tug at the corners of Naruto's lips. Breathing heavily, his deep blue eyes spoke of defeat and despair.

"Sakura-chan," he began slowly. "It's Sasuke. He—…he needs your help."

Thankfully, her heart hadn't smashed to the floor as she initially anticipated. A part of her felt some relief in knowing that Sasuke was still alive. From the look on Naruto's face, she had expected him to say something along the lines of "he fell of a cliff" or "he was eaten by a bear"—which actually would've made more sense. Since when did Sasuke ever need her _help _anyway?

"Does he know you're here?"

"The mission's been prolonged; I told him I needed to report our progress to the Hokage. I doubt he was listening to me though."

"And you're certain he plans to use the curse mark's power?"

The blonde sighed in disappointment. "It's all he talks about. It's like he's become obsessed with killing Orochimaru… just like he did with Itachi."

"So why not do it already?"

"That's how he's being tricked! He says he can't fight Orochimaru with the curse mark hurting him so he's going to wait until it doesn't!" Growling his frustration, Naruto stood from his seat and began pacing the room.

Sakura knitted her eyebrows in confusion. "But… isn't that the only way then?"

"It's been several months, Sakura-chan; it's getting closer and closer to the three year mark. Once Sasuke turns 19, Orochimaru can take his body. We can't wait anymore, but Sasuke insists." He paused. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

She nodded solemnly. "_Sasuke_ would know better than this."

"Right. There's something else involved here, but I don't know what it is."

A moment of silence passed. "Okay," Sakura said finally. She had heard enough. With everything that had been said, the next question was clear.

"So… how can I help?"

* * *

It was an odd coincidental display of timing. At the entrance of their tent, Sasuke nearly collided with Naruto when they arrived to enter it at the same time. Frowning, the dark-haired boy expected the blonde to lash out and release an indecipherable whine of sorts. 

Blinking, Naruto only stared placidly at his friend before brushing past him to enter the tent. "Hey," he muttered casually.

Sasuke suspiciously stalked after him. "Where were _you_?"

"Did you forget?" Naruto asked, dropping his backpack to the floor. "I had to report back to Konoha."

"I didn't forget," the Uchiha protested. "How long were you gone?"

"About the same length of time it took you to come back here."

He was taken back slightly by the sharpness of Naruto's voice. It was insanely out of character for a boy who could smile through his own funeral. He was about to ask the blonde what his problem was when the question died on his tongue. His thoughts quickly meandered from his friend and clouded with the overwhelming need to return to Orochimaru's hideout. Their last training session had ended unjustly; he wanted a rematch against that bastard.

"Did you hear me?"

Grimacing sharply at the question through his unruly black bangs, Sasuke turned to find Naruto standing infront of him. What was with that look on his face? Since when was the dobe so serious looking?

"What?"

"I asked you how the mark's been acting lately."

"I **know** what you asked me."

Shrugging, Naruto began shuffling through his backpack, indicating that a response to his question was now voluntary. Truth be told, the only question he had asked was if Sasuke had heard him or not—the rest had been a lie, but an answer to his own question nonetheless.

Across from him, Sasuke took a seat and absently began playing with the blade of his sword. "I think there's been progress…" the boy mumbled.

"How is it making you feel, Sasuke?"

He immediately scoffed. The question was almost an insult. Was that idiot completely oblivious to the amount of pain it was causing him? "What the hell do you think?" he spat. "It _itches_ a little."

"That's not what I meant."

The prodigy raised an eyebrow at the unexpected reply. Silence passed between them as the two boys frowned rather menacingly at each other.

"Are you going to elaborate or can we discuss something more important?"

Turning away, Naruto pulled a scroll from his bag and tossed it to the other boy. Catching the scroll, Sasuke immediately knew it was a message from the Hokage regarding the mission. He gazed wearily at the item before tossing it back. "Give me the gist."

The fox boy caught it without averting his eyes from Sasuke's. His friend's black eyes were so dormant, so empty… the intensity that obsidian once held was replaced by something dark and unnatural, something that was slowly draining the last of Sasuke's soul. That passive refusal to read the letter was already a clear indication that Uchiha Sasuke was being erased.

"The Hokage's deemed you incompetent; I've been assigned as the new leader of this mission."

"What—?"

"Also, unless your curse mark is sealed, you are prohibited from—" He was cut off when Sasuke's fist smashed into his jaw. The metallic taste of blood was already erupting from his mouth before the other boy had him slammed against a small table.

"I told you not to say anything about this shit."

The blonde promptly spit the blood from his mouth. "Tough!" Kicking the boy off him, Naruto sprang quickly to his feet and violently wiped the blood from his chin. "If that's not enough then I guess I'll have to beat some sense into you!"

"_You're_ the one not making any sense! We've been strategizing this for months and you're screwing it all up!"

"Have you been listening to yourself? You're losing it! You don't even know why you're here anymore!"

A sneer crossed Sasuke's face. Touching the base of his neck, he chuckled somewhat mechanically. "I know why I'm here," he said absently, as if he were suddenly speaking to himself. "I know why… If you could feel this, you'd know…" He laughed again. The sound was so wicked, so filled with malice. "…I only have to wait a little longer."

"Sasuke…" Naruto tried tentatively, but before he could take another step, a barrage of black electricity sent him hurling through the air, destroying the tent and slamming him into a nearby tree.

Skin and lungs burning, the blonde choked on his own surprise and desperately tried to get air into his lungs. "Where the…! Where the hell did you… learn… that?" Naruto gasped.

He ignored the question. "They can't seal the curse mark," Sasuke mumbled quietly. "Can you feel it? I've forgotten how powerful it is…"

"What… about…" Every word was a painful struggle as Naruto coughed from the blood in his mouth and the growing pressure in his chest. "Sa—…"

"You'll be out for a while, dobe. I can't have you in the way. I **have** to use the curse mark."

"Wha… ab… Sa… k—"

He cocked his head curiously to the side. Sasuke's senses were still muddled, distorting the thoughts in his head, but something in him felt drawn to whatever it was the idiot was trying to say.

"What?"

"Sa… kura…"

Frowning, he winced when the curse mark emitted a sharp pain. He rubbed his neck. "Sakura? What about Sakura?"

The words were caught in his throat when a small hand touched the back of his neck. Burning chakra quickly flowed through his body, clashing violently with Orochimaru's curse mark. Sasuke yelled and spun quickly from his attacker's grasp. He barely had time to stop before swinging his fist at the small, pink-haired girl.

She stumbled from the awkward blow, but managed to jump backwards, bringing a leg up quickly to kick Sasuke in the face. He fell on his back, hissing his fury as blood fell from his now broken nose. This kunoichi was ready to kick his ass. Fists clenching, Sasuke knew who it was, but a part of him didn't seem to care. Before he could get up however, the girl pounced and held a knee under his chin, pinning the furious Uchiha to the ground.

"Sakura…" he growled threateningly.

"Sasuke," she greeted, blood dripping from the fresh cut on her lip. "…We need to have a little talk."

**

* * *

Author's note: (July27th Update)**

Chapter's finally finished! Thanks to one of my reviewers for those tips on writer's block. It helped a a lot today... actually I wrote thesecond part of this chapter in the last 3-4 hours. Nothing was clicking for me these past few days. Ugh. 

I'm sorry for the delay. I seem to be lacking passion for Naruto, which I think contributes to my writer's block.

Oh yes! For someone that asked, I actually don't have a beta reader. I'm relaying on my own grammatical hysterics.

**Next chapter: **I'm not sure. But this story will be **finished** before August 21 (**EDIT: Actually, it's not really looking that way anymore. This is the worst case of writer's block I've ever had. Sorry, guys... but Naruto in general has me bored and disappointed. I JUST CAN'T WRITE! I'M GOING NUTS!) **


	23. Chapter 23

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

* * *

**Chapter 23** (_finished, different from preview version_) 

Empty black eyes regarded Sakura coldly, and not even a flicker of recognition seemed to register on the furious boy's face. He knew who she was, sure; but the now shallow depths of his eyes seem to place Sakura in a world entirely against his. His disposition had not brightened, nor had it softened. She had hoped for it, but no… the likelihood was fading rapidly: Sasuke was not happy to see her.

"Sakura…" he repeated menacingly, "Get off me."

Swallowing hard, Sakura could feel fragments of herself falling to the brutal strength of his voice alone. The anger emulating from his eyes, the bitter sharpness of his tone… it was almost enough to tear her well-prepared ambition to pieces. A cough from a nearly unconscious Naruto nearby however, was luckily enough to retract her senses of doubt. She had to seal Sasuke's curse mark, and quickly get Naruto to a hospital. Determined, her brilliant green eyes flickered with renewal.

Ignoring the boy's request, Sakura pressed her knee harder against Sasuke's throat. He gritted his teeth, scowling furiously at her whilst struggling to deliver air to his lungs. The curse mark on his neck throbbed in unison, aching in rebellion against whatever the pink-haired girl had exposed it to. Sasuke was feeling more and more exhausted by the second, and as Sakura's knee pressed harder, he could feel himself blacking out.

"S-Sakura-chan…" Naruto managed to gurgle. "Do it…!"

"Not while he's fighting it," Sakura murmured, unwilling to deter her gaze from Sasuke's. "It's harder if the spirit's not willing."

Tightening her mouth firmly, she suddenly tasted the warm metallic liquid that increasingly coated her lip. Upon applying the first stage of the sealing technique, Sasuke had spun around and punched her hard on reflex—or what she hoped was on reflex. Sakura had ignored the treacherous blow at the time, but the throbbing pain of her torn lip was slowly settling in. Wiping the back of her hand across her lip, she stared in disbelief at her crimson-smeared skin. In her surprise, the pressure of her knee against Sasuke's throat lessened.

His angry stare followed the accusing bloodstains across Sakura's hand. Returning her gaze to Sasuke, Sakura's eyes sadly reflected that of betrayal and disappointment at having been hurt by him—both mentally and physically. Her eyes pleaded with Sasuke; she begged for an explanation, a sign of hope, or any indication that his old self hadn't long since deteriorated. But much to her dismay, the expression on Sasuke's face didn't change.

"Stop it," he snapped hoarsely. "I don't need that look from you."

"Sasuke," she whispered. "…S-Sasuke.. kun…"

A subtle change took place in his eyes. "Get off, Sakura…" he answered quietly, voice strangely monotonous.

"Sasuke-kun…"

He recoiled quickly, bucking and pushing the pink-haired girl off with what little strength he could muster.

"Get away from me, Sakura!" But she would not be thrown off so easily. His body was weak so she had a small advantage, but even with a depleting amount of energy, Sasuke still proved himself a difficult and challenging adversary.

Frightened, Sakura could only stare down in surprise; it appeared the Uchiha was quickly losing control. His expression had changed rapidly once she had uttered the simple suffix to his name. He was clearly panicked as his hollow black eyes widened with alarm at the sheer sight of Sakura—as if he'd never seen her before in his life. The kunoichi grabbed desperately at his arms, but Sasuke only thrashed violently at her to maintain distance.

Finally, with a sudden burst of strength, he grabbed at her shoulder and shoved her to the side. He succeeded in getting half of her off; only her legs were left pinning him to the floor.

"Get away from me," he repeated, his mouth partially open in a state of panic. "Sakura, get off... Get the fuck off me!"

With her head turned away, he could not see the burning tears that fell from her eyes. Biting her lip, Sakura clenched her fist with resolve, concentrating as best as she could to summon chakra to her hand. She knew she hadn't lost him yet. Somewhere, deep inside that curse-ravaged entity was the snotty little achiever she grew up with, and there wasn't one part of her that could handle losing such a precious piece of her life.

Before Sasuke had a chance to react, Sakura swung her hand forward and clamped it tightly around his neck. Her chakra poured into his body, rocketing painfully against the pulsing curse mark just beneath the contact point. His charcoal eyes widened in shock a the amount of pain cascading across him. A scream ripped from his throat; arms and legs flailed uselessly under Sakua's grip as his cries grew louder and louder.

Sakura closed her eyes, trying her best to block out the obvious display of agony she caused by her very hand. Her eyes opened in surprise however, when one of Sasuke's arms broke free. He shot his free arm quickly and gripped Sakura's neck in unison. She began to choke, and with her loss of concentration, the flow of chakra rapidly diminished. Her small hands wrapped around his, but he merely increased his grip.

"S-Sa..suke...!" she managed.

He only smirked at his triumph. Fury written about his features, Sasuke's hollow black eyes again, seemed to stare right through her.

"Sakura," he hissed through gritted teeth. "I'm doing this for you. Why are you trying to stop me?"

With each clench of his fist, Sakura's eyes began to roll towards the back of her head. A tiny gurgle managed to escape her throat as she clawed helplessly at his arm with depleting strength. She began weaving in and out of a conscious mind; her surroundings becoming dim and distorted beyond recognition. She was aware Sasuke was choking the life out of her, but as the darkness enveloped, the figure below her disappeared. Small, warmly-lit orbs danced hazily against a blackening abyss and Sakura suddenly forgot why her neck felt so painful.

She sat up. The room was so dim, solely lit by the small cluster of candles across from her.

"Sasuke," she called dryly, surprised at how parched her throat was.

Somewhere against the walls, she heard the sound of a figure shifting, and then the heavy sound of metal touching the floor. He was sharpening his weapons in the next room, strategically to avoid disturbing Sakura with the raw, scratching pierce of scraping metal. Footsteps were heard clearly as he moved from one room to the next; opening the door to his own where the small pink-haired girl lay resting in his bed.

"What is it?"

She rubbed the top of her shoulder to emphasize. "My neck hurts..." She paused, frowning as she moved her other limbs tentatively. "All my muscles hurt, actually."

"So you still think leaving the hospital early was a good idea?"

"That was a while ago," the kunoichi smirked knowingly. "I blame your lumpy mattress."

He sighed impatiently. "Sakura, go back to sleep; you need to rest."

"But I'm not sleepy anymore. Do you need any help with what you're doing?"

Sasuke's eyes shifted to the adjoining wall to the next room. "No," he stated, using his fist to gently thump the top of her head. "Don't worry about what I'm doing. If you really want to help, go back to sleep."

As Sakura opened her mouth to respond, she stopped and blinked in confusion. He had vanished. The candles were gone and the darkness began to recede. "Sasuke...?" Her voice echoed against the seemingly hollow cave of blurring sepia shapes. The indecipherable objects began to glow brighter and brighter with their increasing hues of color. Suddenly she could feel it again; the blinding pressure against her neck. But it became less and less, with the cool soothing fluidity of air making its way to her lungs. The more air she felt, the brighter the colors around her became. When her senses began to return, Sakura now found herself on the ground with Sasuke above her, entranced on keeping his hands tightly around her neck. He was having trouble, however, as Naruto had somehow managed to tackle him at the same time.

"...Get off her, you bastard! What the.. hell is.. wrong with you?!"

Naruto, struggling to keep his strength up, finally succeeding in shoving the deranged Uchiha off his friend. He ignored him quickly after that, focusing his attention on his other teammate who lay motionless from the curse mark's wrath. "Sakura-chan!" Naruto called desperately as he hoisted the pink-haired girl onto his lap. He grabbed the sides of her face, relieved when he could see signs of life coming through her frighteningly cold skin.

Just several feet away, however, the other boy did absolutely nothing. After skidding across the ground, Sasuke was quick to sit up, but the blow to the gravel seemed to have been enough to knock some sense into him. He looked on, horrified at the events unfolding before him.

"Why...?" Sasuke muttered inaudibly, repeating the single syllable through dry, parted lips. His hands fisted the gravel, completely numb to the jagged rocks that dug into his skin.

_"Why, why...?"_

Ahead of him, Sakura's eyes fluttered open and struggled to maintain a state of consciousness. Which, unfortunately, could no longer apply to Naruto as his injuries got the best of him. "Sakura-chan," the blonde mumbled, as his half-lidded eyes began to lose focus.

He blacked out, slumping over Sakura as she shot up quickly to support him.

"Naruto!"

His body convulsed slightly and panic began to set in as a small amount of blood began to spill from Naruto's lips.

"If you do this to me now I'll kill you myself..." Sakura whispered as she gently turned him over to lie on his back. Just what kind of power had Sasuke used against him? With one hand over the other, she began to flow chakra into her friend's chest. It would be a temporary fix until she could get him to a hospital, and it would have to be soon.

Naruto's body trembled again and was followed quickly by another spirt of blood from his mouth. "Come on, you idiot..." Sakura's voice cracked as she fought to hold back tears. "This is nothing. You know it's nothing. Future Hokage's don't get brought down by this kind of thing!"

She pushed harder, harder... forcing every last ounce of chakra in her body to be concentrated at her hand. If it rendered her powerless, so what? There were no longer any rules for conserving, no rules for procedure. She was saving the life of a friend so to hell with her own. Frustrated, Sakura pulled more chakra together, watching desperately for signs of vitality. Eyelids lowering, she could feel herself growing weak...

A hand wrapped gently around her wrist then, pushing the chakra-filled hand away. "Stop..." Naruto whispered hoarsely, barely receding from unconsciousness "You... remember what I told you before."

_"There's no such thing as a life worth throwing away."_

Her expression softened with relief once Naruto's breathing returned to normal and she could feel the tension leaving his chest. His hand slid limply from her wrist as he succumbed to fatigue once more; fortunately, with a now delayed threat of impending death.

Sakura shifted away in her sitting position, and, leaning back against her arms, stared blankly at the darkening sky overhead. She was breathing heavily, thankful for the cool breeze that dried the beads of sweat across her brow. Breathing in, breathing out, her eyes slowly lowered to meet the gaze of one Uchiha Sasuke.

He sat in a like position, breathing in, breathing out... watching her carefully from the short distance away. Lips parted, his black eyes stared lifelessly in frozen bewilderment. What seemed to snap him back to mobility was the sudden scraping of Sakura's heel as she turned her back. Tending to Naruto, Sakura removed a piece of cloth from her pouch and carefully dabbed the blonde's forehead.

Sasuke caught his breath as a confused scowl began dominating his features. He got up clumsily, paranoid as to why he couldn't quite remember the reason he was sitting down in the first place. The damned mark on his neck pulsed angrily but he stopped himself from further derailment. He wasn't sure what he was doing as he approached Sakura. He had nothing to say, nothing to offer...

She heard Sasuke's footsteps, but did nothing to acknowledge him.

He scoffed inwardly. Sakura was obviously being childish. She would turn her back and ignore disappointment before it could smack her in the face. How typical, how sad. He would not waste anymore time on her when the task of annihilating Orochimaru was so close he could taste it. What the hell did she want, an apology? A sign of regret? Repent?

Fuck that.

She knew nothing. She knew nothing of what it took to protect one's self in this frigid, godforsaken universe. He would have to leave her there, crying and upset---upset with _him_, but there was nothing he could do about that. Without chakra and without Naruto, there was nothing Sakura could do to get in his way now.

She'd have to understand. She had no choice. Everything he was doing was done to ensure Sakura's future and safety. He needed the power to do it, he needed the strength... He could kill Orochimaru in a heartbeat if not for the curse seal. He just had to be patient. It made sense. It made SENSE. So why the fuck was everyone so keen on getting in his way?

Sasuke's shadow loomed over Sakura's figure. She tensed.

"Leave," he ordered dryly. "You're annoying."

Seamlessly, Sakura turned around quickly, and much to Sasuke's surprise, punched him hard across the face.

* * *

**Author's note:** Enough of this. Time to start writing my ass off as I say thank you to the GODS OF ANIME for ending the Naruto filler. Have you heard the music that's been playing in the new episodes? Particularly that new theme of nostolgic sadness; it's damn inspiring. Holy #$!! Also, Little Piece of Heaven won the tonfa award for best Naruto romance fic of 2006. Guess I've gotta finish this baby up. 

The thing with the candles is a flashback. There's a gap in the timeline between Sasuke admitting his feelings and then leaving on his kill bill mission. It's something Sakura recalled randomly, ironically while being strangled by the person who vowed to take care of her. I may remove it.. it's starting to bug me.

Naruto's flashback quote is from episode 141

Sorry to resubmit. By doing this I think it's 1) misleading and 2) you can't review this chapter if u already have.. altho send me a msg if you want :D) but seeing as the chapter was "in progress" (for a million years) I wanted it to be known it was complete before releasing Chapter 24 as the continuing scene wouldn't make sense. See you soon.


	24. Chapter 24

**Little Piece of Heaven**  
Leanne Ashley

* * *

**Chapter 24**

Due to a weakened state, Sakura strategically reserved her chakra and hadn't concentrated any to her fist. But if she had, Sasuke wouldn't be standing where he was, several feet away, with a small trickle of blood at the side of his mouth. Oh no. If Sakura's full strength had been in that unforeseen hit, the Uchiha's body would've been sprawled on the ground... with his head detached several meters away.

She stood, clenching and unclenching her fist in solemn fury.

Sasuke in turn, looked pissed past the brink of reasoning as he swiped the blood from his chin. He was embarrassed; caught off guard by some helpless kunoichi that had needed his constant protection. He sneered, knowing that one lucky shot of hers was the only ammunition she had up her sleeve. Now that he was awake and focused, what else could she do?

"That was lucky," he seethed. "What are you going to do, fight me?"

Obviously Sasuke hadn't expected her to leap forward, fist aimed and ready to deliver a punch of equal vehemence. His eyes narrowed in scepticism as he stepped aside to distance himself from the potentially damaging blow. Sakura gritted her teeth, but was not intimidated by Sasuke's sudden display of vigilance. She landed smoothly on the gravel and turned her body immediately to where the boy had sidestepped. Again, she swung her fist. He dodged and jumped backwards.

"Sakura--" he hissed, but before he could start a sentence, the pink-haired kunoichi had caught up to him with a speed Sasuke didn't even know she was capable of. He raised an eyebrow at this; searching his memory for a time when he had witnessed Sakura fighting so he could recall her strengths and weaknesses. None came to mind for he had never really watched her fight, or at least studied closely enough when he did. Inwardly, Sasuke cursed himself for letting arrogance cloud his judgement of her. Could he really be blamed though? Since when did Haruno Sakura put up a real fight?

His inner ramblings were answered when Sakura threw a rather awkward punch. He smirked, catching her fist easily in midair. It had been a rather careless manoeuvrer in Sasuke's mind, but as he leaned forward to enforce the tight grip on Sakura's fist, she closed the space by kneeing him hard in the stomach. The Uchiha gaped in surprise as the air evacuated his lungs. She had distracted him, and rather easily. Sakura, remaining emotionless, took back her fist, swung her body quickly and finished by kicking him to the ground. As much as it pained her to admit it, she could take full advantage of the fact that Sasuke had little faith in her abilities.

He hit the gravel clutching his stomach. In comparison however, the blow to his ego was greater as he got up quickly, albeit clumsily, in his silent refusal to let himself be taken down fully by Sakura. They were quick to make eye contact.

She stood watching him, shaking slightly as she resumed clenching and relaxing her fist. Her bright green eyes regarded him deplorably as the heat began to consume them.

"Sasuke..." she whispered finally. "I--"

"You," Sasuke snapped through heavy breaths "...are not worth my efforts."

He stood, and Sakura's breath hitched as she saw the angry red orbs overtake Sasuke's eyes. The black commas swirled maliciously as the sharingan was activated in the presence of the Uchiha's growing rage. "You are an ungrateful hindrance," the monotonous voice continued. "I can't stand your whining. Your constant need to be favoured, to be noticed... Disgusting."

She shook her head. "You're not Sasuke..."

"Are you a child?" he snarled arrogantly, "I won't put up with you now. This isn't about you anymore. This is about something bigger. All you're doing is getting in the way. What the hell makes you think you know anything about who I am? You know shit about me. You don't know what it's like to have to lose everything, fight to gain it back and then fight to keep it! How the hell would you know? You were spoiled from the start! You've always had people there with you!"

She stepped back slowly, minding the black flames which crawled over Sasuke's skin as he spoke.

The markings, which pulsated from the boy's neck, were spreading at a resisting pace; the attempted seal she placed earlier acting as a weakening barricade to Orochimaru's venom. She swallowed hard, trying her best to not let her emotions get the best of her. "No, you're not--"

Sasuke reached behind himself then, grabbing hold of the heavy sword attached to his belt. With the piercing sound of gilding metal, he swung the sword forward, catching the kunoichi off guard as the blade's tip fell beneath her chin.

"...Get out of my sight, Sakura."

She stared blankly at the life-threatening gesture. Her eyes, glossed over, shined hauntingly from the blade's reflected light. Though they were filled with tears, she refused to allow a single drop to fall upon her cheek.

"That was why you hated me, right?"

Sasuke didn't flinch. The sword did not move in the least.

"Before all this... any of this..." She lowered her eyes sadly. "You're wrong though, Sasuke. I do know what it's like to lose everything and have to fight to gain it back. And I do know what it's like to have to struggle to keep it. I know it all too well."

His right eye twitched as the curse mark began trying in earnest to pull past the prohibiting seal.

"Years ago, when I woke up on that bench, I knew you were already miles away. I never felt so alone." She bit her lip hesitantly. "But then after accepting a life without you, you came back. Everything I wanted when I was younger came true... I got to have you. The loneliness I forgot I had, that void... it was finally filled."

Sakura's fists clenched. She would not make eye contact as her gaze continued to stare off into nothingness. "And even though you left just as you did before, I'm still here, Sasuke. I'm still fighting to keep you--" Brilliant green eyes narrowing with resolve, her face lifted to meet Sasuke's emotionless stare. "--So don't tell me I don't know what it's like! You're not the only person in this world that's hurting all the time!"

Sharingan eyes, now dulled by silence, continued to watch her passively. Tension came across the boy's brow and he unexpectedly appeared doubtful, as if a part of him wondered if the girl baring her soul to him was for real.

"Just... listen to me now, Sasuke!" she begged. "Please trust me! You came here because you wanted to protect me, remember? You were going to defeat Orochimaru and come back safe and sound, but some thing's not right anymore! Can't you see he's tricking you? You can't possibly defeat Orochimaru with that damned curse seal! That's the point! He has you right where he wants you!"

His grip on the blade's handle lessoned. It was so hard to think clearly as Sasuke's mind repeatedly fell in and out of feeling intoxicated. But somewhere between the clouding darkness and the fuelling pulsation of the curse mark, Sakura's words were starting to register. The curse mark pushed hard, but the seal always pushed back; a maddening battle Sasuke could feel taking place in his veins.

Breathing heavily from the emotional outburst, Sakura calmed herself down. "Sasuke-kun..." she whispered, lowering her eyes once more. "Do you... do you still hate me now?"

After a moment of silence, something was suddenly brought to life in the boy's eyes. Before she had time to react, Sasuke had sheathed his sword and was diving in her direction. The air was knocked out of her as the Uchiha grabbed her body and forced her to the ground with brute force. Sakura landed on her back with Sasuke on top of her and she coughed from the rising dust around them.

As tiny rocks dug uncomfortably against her back, she searched the boy's face for an answer, but was surprised to find his head turned in the direction behind them. Coughing, Sakura could barely hear the single word that was mumbled from Sasuke's lips:

"Shit..."

He looked down at her then, red eyes blazing with an emotion she couldn't quite discern. Scrawled across his skin, the black flames still clung dangerously to almost half his face. "Stay behind me at all times. You're my shadow, do you understand?"

"Why, what's...?"

He growled impatiently. "Tell me you understand, Sakura!"

Startled into submission, she nodded. "...I-I understand."

The moment the dust began to settle, Sasuke got off her quickly and raised his head to where the sound of slow, steady clapping could be heard.

"Orochimaru..." Sasuke greeted sarcastically.

Sakura froze. Her eyes widened as they quickly fell upon the small forest of blades that pierced the earth where she stood just seconds ago. She hadn't sensed a thing. Orochimaru had attempted to kill the pink-haired girl on the spot and Sasuke had protected her; a reflex that would not parish inside him.

"I could have caught on earlier, but you do so love your solitude," hissed the older man. He stood watching from a shallow cliff overlooking Sasuke and Naruto's hidden campsite. "But I'm no fool, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru purred sadistically. "Don't think I didn't know your true intention in coming here was to kill me."

Sasuke instantly gritted his teeth. Sakura stood up slowly, peering up timidly from behind the safety of his shoulder.

"Although, I can't help but feeling disappointed in you. Surely you should know I always cover my bases. As risky of a manoeuvrer as it was in asking you to return after threatening your dear Sakura-chan's life, I knew I had to make sure you behaved yourself until the ritual."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sasuke demanded.

Smiling, Orochimaru casually raised two fingers in the air. "This," he stated with a gentle flick of his wrist.

A scream instantly ripped from Sasuke's throat as he clutched the skin of his neck. Unable to sustain himself as pain flooded from the curse mark, he collapsed to his knees. Sakura could only watch in horror as Sasuke fought to keep the intense suffering from stealing his sanity.

"Stop it! Stop it, you're hurting him you bastard!" Sakura shouted as she stepped forward to his defence. Though in fierce anguish, Sasuke managed to pull the girl back by her wrist, warning her to stay back.

"But--!"

"Don't!" he snapped hoarsely.

From a distance, Orochimaru mused quietly to himself. "Hm. Seems my gift isn't working to its full potential..." He stared hard at Sakura whom he already knew was an experienced medic. But was this silly child capable of tampering with the curse mark? A power that was nearly impossible to contain? No. No, it couldn't be done. The mark could not be sealed at such an advanced stage of development. He shrugged it off, for he knew his Sasuke-kun was a fighter. That retched girl was poisoning his mind and he was probably trying to repel the mark's energy.

He waved his fingers again, and Sasuke was left exhausted with staggered breaths. He got up slowly, supporting himself on his knee. "You..." he gasped "...you were controlling it the whole time?"

The snake man smirked. "That's only half-true, Sasuke-kun. Every mark I've given is still an extension of myself, my being; I can taste it whenever you're near. The closer you get to me, the more control I can regain. And the more control I have, the more you stupidly think all that discomfort will pass if you're patient enough. Since when did you think you could trust Kabuto?"

"Son-of-a-bitch..." Sasuke cursed angrily.

"I tried to make it easy for you," the other man admitted. "I made sure the mark sent you beautiful dreams of sweet blood and carnage, of promised satisfaction through glorious vengeance and bloodshed. You can feel it even now, can't you Sasuke-kun? It must taste incredible to an avenger like you."

Sakura rubbed her neck nervously; it still ached from when Sasuke had almost strangled her to death.

"Sasuke-kun..." she whispered in earnest. On top of being fearful, she was now deeply concerned. It seemed the mystery behind his cruel erratic behaviour had been solved. But along with keeping him at bay, Orochimaru was slowly driving Sasuke mad. She had seen the way he fell in and out of confusion during their prior confrontation. The way he looked at her, the way he spoke to her... none of it had been consistent. "W-Why did you do it?" she asked, raising her voice to the Snake Sanin.

He regarded her contemptuously, but answered nonetheless. "In the end, his head would've been so clouded with hate and blood-lust, his soul would not be as resistant during the transfer ritual. It also proved to distract him from his better judgement."

Sasuke clenched his fist angrily, a low growl escaping his throat. He couldn't stand being talked about like he was some kind of fucking puppet.

Reaching behind him, he gripped his sword handle.

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow at this. "Are you planning to kill me, Sasuke-kun? How will you manage? As long as you have my mark, I can reduce your efforts to nothingness."

The younger boy cursed under his breath. He was right. Once the pain began, he couldn't do a damn thing. And despite his previous efforts to develop immunity, there was no stopping it. Orochimaru was in control of him.

"I'm afraid you have no choice," the Sanin mocked. "Remain and prepare yourself as my vessel---" he pointed at Sakura, "--and I don't kill her. Just as we originally agreed."

Sasuke released the sword handle then and turned to face Sakura. She stared back at him wordlessly, her eyes warning him against telling her to leave, to give up. Much to her concern, he closed his eyes for a brief moment... but he was taking full advantage of the clear, uninterrupted thought process that Orochimaru had enabled to prove a point.

"Sasuke-kun..."

The sharingan was still so penetrating even through half-lidded eyes as Sasuke slowly opened them.

"Sakura," he said quietly. "Finish the seal."

* * *

**Author's note: **Gahh, story almost done. School finished finally.. exams, no more...! Naruto no function well without...! SO TIRED! Story not proof-read... kill not plz me! 


	25. Chapter 25

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

* * *

**Chapter 25**

He awoke too quickly, paranoid of the first thing present in his unfocused vision; the silent movement of a flowing window curtain. He frowned at the realization once clarity began to settle in his heavy, drug-induced mind and looked away. He cursed at the result of his simple gesture as pain gripped his shoulder, pulling heavily at the muscles in his neck.

Reaching an arm behind him, Sasuke tentatively touched the sensitive area, not surprised that the base of his neck was wrapped in thick gauze and bandages. He pulled his arm back, staring numbly at the small amount of blood that dampened his fingers. The wound still hadn't closed properly.

He sat himself up, features hardening as he forced himself to endure the pain from his injury. He looked himself over and raised an eyebrow at the sight of his bandage-covered body.

Make that _many_ injuries.

Stubbornly, Sasuke began to remove the bandages that hindered his movement.

"I'm sure you'll just collapse into a pile of dust once those are off, _genius_."

He spared Naruto a momentary glance before resuming his work. "Where is she?"

The question caught the blonde off guard as he furrowed his bandaged brow skeptically. Naruto stood in the doorway of Sasuke's hospital room, his own just across the hall but with medical conditions initially far less severe than the other boy's. He had almost completely recovered. Sasuke, on the other hand, had been out cold since their return and had stayed that way until now.

"She's... Sakura-chan's around," Naruto replied slowly. "I'm sure she'll be by soon."

Sasuke slowed his movements for a brief second, as if analyzing the words for an indication of positivity. It wasn't to his liking: Naruto had hesitated. Sasuke pulled off the neatly wrapped arm brace with some exaggeration and let it smash into the wall beside him, his eyes narrowing with bitter annoyance.

"Hey!" Naruto snapped.

"_What_?"

Upon realizing that there was nothing to be said, cold blue eyes averted dejectably. "Nothing."

Sasuke avoided eye contact just the same, relaxing the aggravated tension in his muscles to reflect on his unjust behaviour. He had pretended not to notice, but Naruto was clearly healing from visible injuries--injuries Sasuke had ruthlessly given him during his vague power trip. His black eyes fell despite himself. The Uchiha wouldn't call it shame, for the concept alone made him feel weak and vulnerable. He wouldn't say he was sorry, because guilt and regret coincided... and he refused to regret things he had done in the past that helped him achieve success; such things compromised his integrity.

"You doing okay?" Sasuke asked finally.

A grin appeared on the blonde's face as he laughed shortly. "You know me, I can bounce back from anything. But I'll admit you got me pretty good back there."

"Yeah," Sasuke smirked. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Listen, dobe..."

"Don't worry about it," Naruto interjected, leaning casually against the door frame. His eyes gazed thoughtfully out an open window across the small medical room. "Everybody's got kinks that need working out. It might take longer for some, but at least everything fixes itself in the end... just like it always does."

"Hn. You really believe that, don't you?"

He shrugged. "Well, you're still here, and you're still on our side, right?"

The Uchiha grunted inaudibly.

"Then we're cool," Naruto said simply. "It's not **me **you need to explain things to."

He nodded, knowing that sooner or later, issues between Sakura and himself would have to be confronted. The last thing he remembered was the odd feeling of Orochimaru's blood pouring onto his hand; it wasn't warm like he expected. The Uchiha had stabbed his katana deep within the Snake Sanin in what was probably his one and only window to injuring the man. Luckily, the final thrust had been fatal.

As Orochimaru slumped against the blade, Sasuke began to feel weak, allowing the both of them to slump to their knees.

"Such power..." the older man hissed, clawing his hand into Sasuke's unrelenting grip on the sword. "I may... be finished," Orochimaru smiled, blood seeping past his fangs, "but you... No, ...not you. You're not. You'll never be finished."

Sasuke's face remained stoic, yet his former master's words confused him. As his vision began to blur, he could feel Sakura's presence behind him. He had planned to say something... anything. She rested a hand on his shoulder before he could turn around, and blackness followed.

"After she sealed your curse mark," Naruto began, predicting Sasuke's questioning, "Sakura-chan stayed conscious long enough to heal some of our injuries before the backup medical team arrived."

"Was she alright?"

"She was fine. A little drained for a couple days, but fine."

Sasuke leaned back against his pillow, but paused as if an unseen force would not permit him to rest. He was too unsettled, too agitated as he sat upright again and pulled the intravenous needle out from his arm.

"Sasuke...!" Naruto protested as Sasuke swiftly planted his feet on the floor.

Ignoring the blonde, he continued to rip the hindering bandages from his body and discarded them on the hospital floor.

"You can't see her now!" Naruto practically exploded.

Sasuke shrugged and grabbed his newly cleaned clothes from off a nearby chair. "I don't know what you're talking about," he replied monotonously.

"You know damn well!" his friend argued, appalled by Sasuke's irritating need to cover his emotional tracks. Damn did this guy have a messed up rebound rate. "I'm not stupid. I know how you feel about her."

The Uchiha glared daggers as he pulled the black shirt over his head. He hated having someone else present his feelings to him on a platter. It made him feel overexposed, over analyzed... His thoughts and emotions were not an unravelling thread.

"Stay out of it, dobe..." was all he would grant the annoying accusation.

Frustrated, Naruto slammed a hand against the door frame, blocking Sasuke's exit with his arm. "Sasuke," he sighed "she doesn't want to see you."

He opened his mouth to expel a snappy comeback, but the other boy was quick to interrupt, gripping the door frame to make an example of his sincerity.

"Just leave her alone for a while."

* * *

Tapping her fingernails indecisively, Tsunade watched Kakashi momentarily as he leaned against the wall with his arms folded. He was at a loss for words, trying his best to think up a defence on Sasuke's behalf but no ideas remained cohesive enough. How could you think up an excuse for someone when you lacked faith in the idea that they deserved a second chance? Honestly, Kakashi felt Sasuke had little to no leeway on his side and it would take a hell of a lot to convince the Hokage that Sasuke shouldn't be banished from the village.

"It doesn't matter how stern and focused Sasuke appears," Tsunade began "his judgement is too easily influenced. Anyone with a soul as darkened as his will always be susceptible to losing control."

"If you were so sure of this why put him in a situation that would set him off?" Kakashi protested.

"I didn't know he would bend the operation the way that he did!" she countered. "I expected him to return to Orochimaru undercover and when the time was right, assassinate him with Naruto's help."

"But according to Naruto's reports, the curse seal began to hinder Sasuke's abilities because of its renewed connection to Orochimaru."

"He let it take over his judgement too easily," pointed out Tsunade. "It doesn't matter that he succeeded in killing his brother, the darkness from his past will follow him everywhere. He's a liability, Kakashi, a loose canon."

"I believe he'll be cleansed with time."

"I don't."

Kakashi's demeanour tensed as he stood in front of Tsunade's desk. Placing his hands on the surface, he narrowed his eyes. "You trusted him enough to give him a high-risk mission. I trust him enough now to know that he'll change."

Tsunade scoffed, spinning her chair around to face the glass covered landscape behind her desk. She _had_ trusted Sasuke. She had honestly thought that with his brother dead, Sasuke could maintain a clear train of thought and handle missions as wisely as he had when he was younger. Her worst fear for the young Uchiha had come true; achieving vengeance brought no peace to his heart. Sasuke had defeated the face of evil that had destroyed his family, but deep down it wasn't good enough. It would never be good enough. Now Sasuke would be looking for other faces. His soul was eager to destroy, eager to achieve revenge. He was now dangerously susceptible to dark methods of manipulation; a cruel curse Uchiha Itachi had given to his younger brother.

"The curse mark has been sealed, has it not?" Kakashi continued. "And with Orochimaru dead the mark can no longer be controlled by anyone."

"Except Sasuke," Tsunade pointed out. "The seal Sakura applied maintains its strength according to Sasuke's will. It's stronger than the one you first gave him; embedded far deeper... but it can all come crashing down if Sasuke allows it so."

"There are no potential threats--"

"Not today," the Hokage shrugged. "But suppose Akatsuki would like to replace the Uchiha that they lost."

"You're stretching this farther than it needs to be," Kakashi grumbled. "Sasuke's curse mark is sealed. He's not raving like a lunatic somewhere. He's healing from his injuries and he's fine. I understand your concerns, but I see no reason to banish him from Konoha."

"Well the council does," Tsunade replied firmly. "I'm sorry but my hands are tied, Kakashi. They've been informed of his conscience state. Sasuke must appear before the council to defend his case tomorrow."

* * *

The rain was relentless.

Black strands of hair matted to the sides of his face as he limped slowly towards the Uchiha manor. Though he was struggling, Sasuke would be damned if he was to spend another minute in that blinding hospital room.

He climbed the front steps and placed a hand wearily on the door frame. Water dripped from his soaked clothes and finger tips, marking his presence upon the dry wood as he slid the door open. It was dark inside; a grim indication that the manor was empty. Though Sakura's scent lingered, the feel of her presence was nowhere to be found. He hadn't felt it once since opening his eyes in that hospital bed.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, convincing himself that he didn't care as he removed the soaked shirt from his back. He cringed in his movements; his neck still sore from the amount of stress endured by the curse seal's entrapment.

The amount of pain that flowed into his body was indescribable. After giving Sakura the simple instruction, she had nodded solemnly and pressed a cool hand to the base of his neck. Orochimaru was unsure of what to expect, naively thinking that only Tsunade would have the power to seal the curse mark in its advanced state of development.

He had tried his best to endure the pain silently, but as Sakura's chakra burned against the seal he slowly found himself losing composure as he gripped Sakura's free hand relentlessly. He was probably close to breaking it but she never said a word; only maintained her concentration.

After what seemed like an eternity, Sakura ceased her chakra flow and he slumped against her chest with exhaustion, trying in earnest to slow his rapidly beating heart. There was a sudden lightness in his body, as if a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders. For the first time in a long time his thoughts flowed clearly through his mind as he gripped his sword handle.

Just thinking about it made him feel beaten and worn all over again.

Sasuke continued to limp through the dark hallway. Not that it bothered him; light was not a friend in this household. He paused, however, when the small table against the wall entered his peripheral. The small, lightly dusted lamp sat undisturbed on its surface. He frowned at the offending object, being reminded of the one person who continuously requested it be turned on.

The Uchiha stared hard at the simple light fixture before turning his back.

He only made it two steps away before his feet pivoted against his wishes. Sighing with frustration, Sasuke less than gently turned on the small hallway light and exited the room.

* * *

"... Do you understand the charges as I have read them out to you, Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Sure," Sasuke grunted, inciting a rather cryptic look from Kakashi from across the room. He rolled his eyes as he recalled the irritating lecture he had been given regarding certain mannerisms in front of the village council. The conversation had not gone over well. It was up to Kakashi once again to tie the unwilling genius to a tree in order to get his instructions across. Unfortunately, by this time, Sasuke could care less about the situation at hand, knowing better than anyone else that his chances were slim to nil. He had only smirked at Kakashi's request for him to withhold curses and sarcastic whoop-dee-doo's.

"...Yes," he stated again, unable to hide an obviously forced affirmation.

"And do you understand the council's concerns regarding your continued presence in the village?"

"Yeah... I'm a _loose canon_," Sasuke quoted bitterly as he glared at the Hokage. Tsunade appeared unfazed as she silently clasped her hands under her chin.

"Have you prepared a defence for yourself?" the council member continued.

"Why the hell would I do that?" the boy scoffed.

Kakashi could only look on in alarm. "Sasuke!"

"Looks like you've already made up your damn minds. What's the point of all this?"

"You're fighting to keep your home, Uchiha!" another member spoke up. "I suggest you try a little harder!"

"What do you want from me?" Sasuke seethed. "Yes, I handled the situation badly. No, I don't want to leave. Is anything I say really going to make a difference?"

Kakashi shook his head with frustration.

"You're being extremely careless with your future, Sasuke," Tsunade replied grimly. "You're wasting the council's time--"

"And disgracing the Uchiha name," an elderly council member quipped.

Black eyes instantly narrowed in the older man's direction as Sasuke clenched his fist. Grinding his teeth, it took all the strength he could muster to stop himself from leaping over the large table that separated them. He would beat the old man down with his own detached limbs. What higher power gave that decrepit bastard the right to such blasphemy?

"Shut the hell up..." Sasuke growled darkly.

"Let's not get off topic," Kakashi interjected, trying his best to diffuse the suddenly hostile situation.

"No, let's stay on THIS topic," the Uchiha pushed stubbornly. He sneered menacingly at the old man who struggled to maintain his indifference. "You can say all the shit you want from your comfy chair, but let's see how well _you_ handle losing everything in this world that makes you whole! Let's see how you feel about life after your entire family's been wiped clean from this planet!"

Kakashi stepped forward and restrained Sasuke back by his shoulder. "Sasuke..."

"Let's see you spend what's left of your tired, miserable life doing what you can to fix it, and then have some shitbag tell you you've only made it worse!"

"Sas—"

"I don't need this," Sasuke muttered as he tore himself from Kakashi's grip. He headed solemnly toward the large double doors, pissed with himself for having lost his temper, succumbing to an emotional outburst in front of an entire room of people.

Speechless onlookers watched the young boy's back as he exited without a word. Kakashi, at a loss of what to do, folded his arms tiredly and resumed his position against the wall.

Sasuke shrugged off the awkward silence behind him. He'd deal with this whole pointless thing later. Reaching for the door handle, he angrily pulled it open and stopped abruptly.

Sakura was there to greet him on the other side, fist raised as if she had been preparing to knock.

The Uchiha's eyes widened with surprise, eyebrows quirked slightly reflecting his inner battle between relief, anger and confusion. It felt like he hadn't seen her in years. He noticed offhandedly that Sakura's pink tresses almost appeared longer.

Her cheeks immediately flushed. She looked just as alarmed to see him, but evident in her features was an odd uncertainty, as if facing him was definitely not something she was mentally prepared for.

Not that he gave a damn or anything.

"Sakura..." Sasuke said plainly, black eyes burning fiercely into hers.

Her mouth opened to speak, but no words manifested as her eyes diverted to an empty space just above the taller boy's shoulder. She couldn't bring herself to make eye contact.

"Sakura!" Tsunade's voice bellowed. "We're ready for you. It looks as though our other meeting has been cut short."

Looking past Sasuke to her teacher, Sakura nodded and quietly sidestepped him to gain access to the council room. He didn't turn; he could only stare intently at nothing as Sakura moved past him, a dark expression knitting his brow as he remained rooted to the floor. The sound of her retreating footsteps snapped Sasuke back to reality as he exhaled and finally left the scene, letting the heavy door slam loudly behind him.

* * *

"You're so damn lucky..."

Sasuke merely shrugged and continued to look out over the ledge he was perched upon. "Whatever."

It had been a week since Sasuke's outburst in the council room, and after a short meeting in Tsunade's office, Sasuke calmly accepted his finalized sentence and exited without a word. Entering the hallway, he hit an ease dropping Naruto with the door. "I can stay," he muttered simply as the annoying fox hounded him for details. He was in no mood to discuss it, but allowed his friend to follow him up the tower to an empty lookout post. The immense view of the village was somehow soothing, granting the ability to allocate one's thoughts.

Aghast, Naruto folded his arms against his chest. "I don't know what you're so sour about. An extended probation is nowhere near as bad as being exiled."

"I want to stay because it's home," Sasuke muttered, "but every passing day will feel more and more like a prison."

"It's only temporary," Naruto assured. "You've served probation before, you can do it again." He walked over to where the other boy sat, curious to see what he was staring so intently at.

The blonde peered over the ledge, then at Sasuke, then back down again. Sighing, Naruto drummed his nails against the warm stone surface and tried to concoct a reasonable confrontation that wouldn't result in him being pushed to his death.

Opening his mouth to speak, Naruto was quickly interrupted before a single assumption could be uttered.

"I don't want to hear it," Sasuke snapped knowingly.

Though they were a fair distance away, Sakura's pink tresses were easy to spot amongst the crowd of busy shoppers in the marketplace. She was laughing and smiling sweetly to her shopping companion; a very gentlemanly Hyuuga Neji that obviously had no quarrel against carrying her things.

Scowling, Sasuke unconsciously began tossing a small stone into the air; catching and re-tossing it with the building intention of suddenly pelting it through a certain shinobi's skull.

"H-Hey...!" Naruto laughed nervously. "They're just _friends_, teme!"

He held onto the rock this time, fisting it tightly in his grip. The more that soft smile graced Sakura's lips, the more he could feel a blinding, animalistic fury envelop his body.

"What makes you think _I_ care?"

Naruto took a few steps away and watched the back of Sasuke's head. He noted how the other boy was still refusing to deter his gaze from his view of the marketplace.

"Because..." Naruto said slowly, an inkling creeping up his spine. "You won't show me your eyes, Sasuke. What's the deal with that?"

Ebony spikes tilted slightly as the stubborn boy turned his head a mere fraction. "What's your point, moron?"

"My point is..." Naruto began, as he grabbed a small stone from the pavement, "I think you care--" he hurled the stone in Sasuke's direction who, without fail, caught it in midair and turned to scowl at the annoying loudmouth behind him.

"--more than you think," he finished, frowning back into the blood red orbs of Sasuke's sharingan.

"Look at you. You put so much effort into concealing your stupid emotions. Now everything's bubbling over and you can't even fool yourself."

A chord was struck as Sasuke's red eyes averted briefly to the floor. He recovered quickly however; blazing them into Naruto's with renewed defiance as he hopped down from the balcony ledge. He had a retort handy, but the idea of encouraging a conversation that sought to pick him apart was too acidic for his taste.

Much to Naruto's surprise, the Uchiha walked right past him and proceeded to descend the stone walkway, anger-induced sharingan fading slowly from his eyes.

"Wh-Where are you going, Sasuke?" the blonde called after him. "You're not going down there, are you? Sasuke!"

"You'd rather I conceal my stupid emotions?" he bit sarcastically. "I've waited long enough."

"What are you going to do, pick a fight with Neji? When you've JUST been put on probation? You're nuts!"

"If you don't like it, don't follow me."

Cursing to himself, Naruto glanced over the ledge once more before chasing Sasuke down the stairway. "Look! Look! She's by herself now... Neji must've gone off on his own!"

"Hn."

"Don't just grunt at me! What are you planning to do? You can't--! This isn't fair to Sakura-chan!"

Sasuke stopped, as if the notion alone was absurd enough to make time stand still. "What does _fair_ have to do with anything? Why are you creating such a barrier around her?"

The question of 'why' was an annoying parasite in his brain. He had left it alone long enough for it to start gnawing at him from the inside out. Grudgingly, he had respected Naruto's request to leave Sakura alone without asking any questions. He forced himself not to care, but parasites were rather nasty things... they scraped and poked, slowly and painfully situating themselves to the forefront of where they couldn't possibly be ignored.

"Look," Naruto signed, "I'm sure this isn't something you haven't realized, but maybe you don't understand what it has actually done."

He took a deep breath. "Sakura-chan's loved you since we were kids, but you trampled her. Then you leave for a couple years and break her heart like an asshole. You come back, fall for her, then you leave and break her heart again. She comes to help you cause she loves you, but then you trample her... literally," he added with a tinge of disgust, "...like an asshole."

Naruto folded his arms and leaned against the tower wall. "Do you see some kind of pattern forming? When she's ready to talk to you, she will. Don't go causing a scene just cause you're pissed off."

He shrugged then, exhausted from converting an emotional outburst into something cold and succinct--Sasuke would've stopped listening otherwise.

"Like I said... it's not fair," Naruto finished solemnly.

Alarmed by this sudden verbal back-hand, Sasuke's eyebrow twitched slightly as he stared at the blonde in disbelief. It was brutal and sincere, and above all, something he needed handed to him... though he'd never admit it.

Conflicted, Sasuke continued on his way without any clear thought as to what he would be doing next. A quiet "Fine." was all he could muster.

They walked in silence down the rest of the pathway, stopping only when a certain silver-eyed shinobi was found waiting for them at the bottom.

"Neji?"

The name alone sparked a rapid scowl from the Uchiha who immediately darted his attention to where the blonde had directed his voice.

So much for calming down. It was like dangling a bright red handkerchief before an unstable bull... one that was on the verge of spontaneously losings its mind. Uchiha Sasuke, on the other hand, could only tighten his fist while metaphorically grunting steam and kicking back the pavement with his foot.

"Can I help you with something?" Neji asked, the icy question directed towards Sasuke.

"But... you... were waiting for _us..._" a confused Naruto stated in the background.

"Hn." The Uchiha smirked undaunted, not stopping until the Hyuuga was directly in his path. "You can by getting out of my way."

He ignored the request, unmoving from his position. "I couldn't help but notice you watching me."

"Don't flatter yourself," Sasuke sneered.

"Was it Sakura you were watching then?"

"Move."

Neji glared, folding his arms across his chest. "You know what your problem is, Uchiha?"

What was this? Was there a notice posted somewhere that read 'kick Sasuke while he's down' ? He had not only been lectured by Kakashi, the Hokage and the entire village council, but his best friend to boot. And now, because fate was having one hell of a good time laughing and pointing at his existence, here was that bastard Neji to add to the festivities.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

"Neji, Neji...!" Naruto chuckled nervously. "I'm sure he knows what his problem is, so--"

"Tell me anyway," Sasuke interjected. "I've gotten so used to hearing it."

"Everything has to be about you!" Neji snapped with lightening speed, ignoring the sarcastic invitation to state his opinion. "Your life and your _twisted_ take on it. Your pride and arrogance will be the end of all of us someday, and that includes Sakura."

"Don't speak from your ass, Hyuuga. Tell me something I haven't heard."

He lowered his voice then. "If you want Sakura, realize you have a responsibility to her, one that I'm more than willing to take over."

"What?!" The anger-filled reaction slipped from his mouth before his brain had time to process it. Needless to say, the credibility of Sasuke's passive aggressive wall was instantly blown to smithereens.

"You heard me!" Neji retorted. "You aren't good enough for her. You'll _never _be good enough for her. Not while you continue to harbour some sick resentment to the world. Go run off and find someone else to kill, or just go and kill yourself. I could care less. But if you want Sakura that badly, then at least be a man about it."

Sceptical, Sasuke raised an eyebrow, the distrusting scowl still plastered on his face.

"Sakura cares about you," Neji snorted with disgust. "Who do you think convinced the village council to let you off easy? She cares more than you think, she's just afraid of you. In the meantime, there's nothing I can do but console her. So figure out your priorities. Either do something about it or move on so _I_ can have a chance."

A cold silence fell between them while Naruto watched uncomfortably.

Sasuke was doing his best to stare Neji down from his slight height advantage, but at the same time he couldn't help but be distracted by the unexpected news he had given him: ...Sakura had spoken on his behalf that day?

"She's been doing a lot better..." Neji finally spoke. Though his features remained scornful, his voice had softened to a straining degree. He began to walk away, sparing Sasuke a momentary glance behind his shoulder.

"Go see her soon."

* * *

**Author's note**: I had planned to finish the entire story by the 25th chapter but I feel like the ending should be an entire chapter dedicated to one big SasuSaku moment. So no, it's not done. And yes I know, my last update was about a year ago. haha I bet nobody even remembers what this stupid story is about. I AM SO SORRY. Months ago I would draw a complete blank whenever I opened my word document to start typing. I could go as far as one sentence and then I'd give up and couldn't add to that sentence till the following week. Let's call it a severe case of writer's block.

The next chapter is important to me. I'm thinking it through very carefully but I think I know what I want to happen (don't we all? ;) ...so as long as writer's block doesn't kick back in (I think I've been temporarily cured) I should hopefully have this story updated and completed in less than a month. Wish me luck... and please review if you forgive me!


	26. Chapter 26

**Little Piece of Heaven  
**Leanne Ashley

* * *

**Chapter 26**

"You're thinking about him again, aren't you?"

Moving her green eyes from the ceiling, Sakura frowned at Ino defensively. An empty gesture at best; her room mate had been spot on.

"I can't seem to go long without doing so..." Sakura sighed, her expression softening.

Ino set her mouth in a firm line. Sakura had been staying with her ever since Sasuke's return from the mission. She tried not to ask too many questions as initially Sakura had locked herself in the bathroom and cried relentlessly after asking to stay a few nights. The pink haired girl had experienced a soul-crushing betrayal and was lost at a junction: the in-between of not knowing where she was headed or what she wanted. The conflict in her head had been so intense, all she could do was cry to drown it out.

Sakura's mind became blank in survival mode and she had been adamant on avoiding any discussion of Sasuke for some time; this led Ino to keep from her details of a confrontation with Sasuke not too long ago.

Ino had just finished eating lunch with her team-mates, working her way through the busy market to get some shopping done alone when Sasuke confronted her as if from nowhere.

"Yamanaka," he acknowledged plainly. Ino was startled. It was rare for him to call her by name, an indication he wanted her cooperation through strained politeness.

"Sasuke-kun!" Ino had greeted happily, though she knew that a level of uneasiness had cracked through her voice. There was only one perfectly obvious reason Uchiha Sasuke would seek her out, and that pink-haired reason was wrapped in solitude in the spare bedroom of her house.

She already knew she would be powerless under the interrogation to come. Though Ino had long ago accepted her connection with Sasuke paled somewhat pathetically against the connection he had with Sakura, a small part of her still vied for his attention just as the hundreds of other fan girls in the village did.

Goddamnit.

Did he have to stand there in his sexy black ensemble and smoulder those dark romance novel eyes so goddamn far into her she could feel them burning the back of her head?

He didn't even have to _try_ to make her salivate!

"She's staying with you... right?"

A fair distraction. It was hard to fantasize about someone while their attention was focused primarily on someone else. Another woman to be painfully exact.

"Um... well... you see..." Ino stammered, fumbling with her words to buy time. There was no point in lying but she had felt the need to delay him from marching through her front door. Sakura's current state at the time would not handle such a confrontation.

He didn't wait for her to confirm, but he didn't move a muscle either. "How is she?"

The blonde girl swallowed hard, searching for the answer least likely to disturb him. "Well, she's... not quite herself these days." Her eyes darted away from the hard stare on Sasuke's face. "But it's getting there!" she added quickly.

His onyx eyes analysed her crudely, openly telling her that he detested things being sugar-coated for him.

"I heard you just had your meeting with the village council," Ino chipped in quickly, eager to change the subject. "Do you know yet if they've, you know, made any decisions?"

"Who knows. Don't concern yourself with it," Sasuke answered distractedly.

Ino had lost his interest and he was turning away. The mask of indifference clutching his persona seemed to lack, however; betrayed by the hint of despondency that spoke from his eyes. She had seen it. A glimpse for a mere fraction of time... it was an alien characteristic that was too hard not to notice.

"I know you must miss her!" Ino blurted out.

He stopped with his back to her, frigid muscles showing signs of annoyance but none of turning back.

She cleared her throat bravely to elaborate. "I think... no, I _know_ she misses you too."

Ino wasn't sure what had happened after that. Either she took too long to blink, or enough people were passing by between them, but Sasuke had disappeared just as quickly as he had arrived.

She shook off the memory. It wasn't much, but it might have been an upset for Sakura to hear at the time.

The pink haired girl rolled off from the couch from where she had been daydreaming. Moving towards the kitchen, Sakura began organizing the items she had bought from the market.

"Did you have fun shopping with Neji today?" Ino inquired, distracting Sakura from her thoughts.

She smiled. "It's nice spending time with him. He's a good friend."

"_Too_ good," Ino chided. "Please tell me you're aware of how he feels about you."

Frowning, Sakura continued to remove items from her basket. "It's not like that." She paused. "I mean, it is like that... but it isn't. We're friends. He knows Sasuke and I were... complicated"

"'Complicated'... is that what you 're calling it?"

"What would you have me call it?"

"Epically dysfunctional? That's getting warmer."

"You don't understand," Sakura sighed. "How can anyone? _I_ don't even understand."

"I understand that Neji doesn't stand a chance," Ino countered, casually helping Sakura distribute the groceries. "I understand that the moment you heard Sasuke was in danger of being exiled, you asked to speak to the village council."

"I know where you're going with this..."

"AND..." the blonde continued. "I understand that despite how messed up and fricken weird Sasuke is, and how insane those inner demons can get, it all seems to take a back-seat when he needs to lookout for you."

"Ino..."

"Look forehead, I'm not telling you what to do. I'm simply telling you what I know. You've been avoiding him because you're afraid and it's trapped you in this goddamn funk... but I think when you see him you'll know what to do."

Sakura's eyes swept the floor. "And if... I'm not ready to see him?"

Ino shrugged. "Then you're not ready to know."

The blonde smiled, tossing her friend an apple before heading away to her room. For Sakura's sake, she would not dwell on the topic of Sasuke for too long.

* * *

"Sakura-san? Sakura-san?"

Sakura blinked once, allowing the sudden film over her eyes to descend as two small tears down her cheeks.

She had stopped by a bakery in the marketplace to grab a quick pastry for lunch when it happened.

The young girl at the register held out Sakura's order, perplexed at the sudden change in Sakura's demeanour. One minute she was her cheerful, polite self and the next she was standing like a ninja caught in some flashlights. She had begun to worry for the woman when tears began filling those fearful green eyes... Surely their prices weren't _that_ high.

"Sakura-san, are you alright?"

Reality set in like a cold shower. Sakura shut her eyes fast, trapping in the tell-tale liquid and shook her head quickly.

"I'm so sorry," she laughed. "Something's in my eye. Wow, that stings!"

_Get a grip, you pansy. Stop being so weak!_

"A-Are you sure?" the girl asked, frantically whipping her head to assess their surroundings. "I mean, you looked terrified!"

"No, I'm ok," Sakura assured her, wiping her cheek with the back of her hand. "I was just... remembering something I forgot to do and then some dust got in my eye. It's fine, really. I'm fine..."

As a result of the near-catatonic influence Orochimaru had subjected her mind to, brief glimpses of her torturous nightmare still invaded her dreams, and sometimes, even randomly to her thoughts when she was awake. Sakura's mind was still slowly healing from the episode, thanks to the help of an occasional visit to Konoha's resident therapist. Fortunately now, there were no more nights of waking in abrupt hysterics and crying until she forgot what had awoken her in the first place.

Now, they only caused a mild disruption that opened her eyes in a confused flutter before calmly returning to sleep. During the day however, the stab in her thoughts could be classified as a little more than irritating.

Though few and far apart, if the incident suddenly became the forefront of what she recalled, Sakura would lose focus for only a quick second. Enough to sometimes lose her footing, enough to occasionally shed a tear, but not enough for anyone to really take notice.

Though certain people could always be accounted for.

"If you're sure..."

As if just realizing the young girl still had her arm extended, Sakura quickly went looking for her coin purse. "Oh, sorry," she apologized. "How much do I owe you?"

The girl opened her mouth to answer, but was quickly silenced when the bag was rudely snatched from her hand and placed into Sakura's.

Without sparing another glance at the startled shopkeeper, Sasuke kept his focus on Sakura as he absently slammed more than enough money on the counter before ushering the pink-haired girl away by the forearm.

Dumbfounded by the sudden exchange, Sakura stared at the bag in her hands and feebly attempted to string words together. "W-What are you—what are you doing...?"

"Uchiha-san! What about your change? This is enough to buy ten loaves!" the bakery girl called after them.

Stopping just out of earshot from the food carts, Sasuke's calculating eyes looked Sakura over.

"What happened?"

"I-I..." She blinked rapidly, willing the glassy tears to simply evaporate. "Something... my eye just now..." Was that a complete sentence? She had become bewildered and unglued at the sight of him.

Sasuke stared incredulously; an eyebrow moved slightly higher than the other to emphasize. He didn't buy her sorry excuse of course, and this was it: _this_ was the epitome of what could shred her carefully preserved facade to pieces. Sasuke saw through her like nobody else could. A single stare left her feeling exposed and terribly vulnerable at this point. With an open entity, he could easily pick her apart without saying a word.

Damn. AND he looked good, as usual, sporting attire laden with his signature shade of blacker than black.

Sakura swallowed hard. It had been so long—panic flooded her senses. Someone she loved, someone she trusted, someone she'd die for... standing before her as if he hadn't betrayed her, hadn't tried to kill her, hadn't lost his sanity to the overwhelming lust that darkness had to offer.

Whatever it was that Ino wanted her to discover, it wasn't any more solved than it had been weeks ago.

"I should go," Sakura blurted out quickly. With her speech instantly severed, she turned to leave.

His hand shot out and clamped over her wrist. "What happened?" he repeated, impatience now heavy in his voice.

Flustered and becoming slightly agitated, Sakura's panic flew to their point of contact at her wrist. Please don't touch me, her eyes tried to plead. I can't handle this right now.

"Nothing happened..." Sakura paused, a cautious calm surfacing as her survival mode kicked in. Her next words came out carefully, as she feared he would somehow snap. "Please leave me alone."

He seemed to contemplate this in his mind, but his hold didn't lessen. "No."

"I'm warning you," Sakura said lowly. "Let go."

He glared back, driven by the embedded male urge to advance on any given challenge. "_You're_ warning _me_?"

She didn't answer, and though he was at complete odds with the tonality of his voice, Sasuke reluctantly released her wrist. She held it quickly to her chest as if there were scorching electricity behind his touch.

The Uchiha frowned at her instinctive reaction to recoil from him, noticing it took an unnatural amount of energy to keep his voice calm and controlled as well. "Don't tell me it's nothing, Sakura."

Again, the pink haired girl didn't respond, only looked away at such an angle that thick eyelashes blocked what view he had of knowing her thoughts.

She shifted uncomfortably and cleared her throat. "You know what it is," Sakura answered finally. "I have to go..."

"Where?"

"Just-"

"Away from me?"

Her mouth formed a line. The crowd moved past them in preoccupied blur, heedless of their stand-off. It seemed as though they had been frozen in the middle of that busy marketplace for hours.

"What do you want from me?" Sakura finally murmured.

Sasuke lifted his chin toward the small bakery cart, "Back there...you were upset. Tell me why."

"Minor complications," she answered quietly, "from being exposed to Orichmaru's torture."

His eyes narrowed, anger radiating towards the memory of that pathetic snake bastard. "You haven't recovered," he assessed calmly, at odds with the penetrating disgust in his eyes.

"No..." Sakura sighed. "Not quite. Are we done?"

"Not even close."

She closed her eyes briefly in frustration. "What else do you need to know?"

He scowled at this. "What's it going to take for you to talk to me?"

"We _are_ talking."

"You're ready to run," Sasuke accused. "Why are you..." Stopping, he took a moment to analyze her body language. Sakura's guard hadn't been let down. She was in a state of retract, flinching from him like he was composed of poisonous spikes.

"You're afraid of me."

Beautiful green eyes stared at him in a strange wash of confusion and defiance. Her expression grim, she shook her head at Sasuke in what appeared to be distaste before turning her back.

"Sakura!" he called, glaring after her retreat.

She wouldn't stop walking; retorts screeched to a halt in the middle of her throat.

With an abolished appetite, Sakura threw her lunch into her side-bag and hugged her arms as she quickened her pace. She _was_ afraid of Sasuke, but it didn't need to be said out loud, least of all by him. It was too unfair and ridiculous. The one person she couldn't help but care about more than anything else was the same person that could rip her world to shreds like some kind of irony missile. Love and fear coincided in her life where Sasuke was concerned and it was a damn stupid thing to admit.

Would he be concerned, or find a way to insult her? Touch her gently, or strangle the hell out of her?

She had felt consumed by his presence; a quick retreat was the only plan up her sleeve.

Short-lived.

Why did Sasuke have to be so damn fast?

He appeared rapidly before her, blocking her path of escape and leaving no time to react as he took hold of Sakura's arms and forced her into a nearby alleyway.

She immediately flushed and gasped in surprise as Sasuke pushed her up against the alley wall. Displeased at the attack, she angrily shoved him off and slammed him into the opposite wall with her lower arm across his throat.

"Sakura..." Sasuke warned impatiently.

The kunoichi swung her fist; the Uchiha caught it just before it reached him, enveloping her slender hand with an iron grip. She flinched in surprise and he was quick to take advantage. Forcing her arm to the side, the prodigy regained his hold and pushed her back against the other wall.

"You're driving me crazy!" he growled, face inches from hers.

"What is _wrong _with you!?" Sakura demanded, twisting under his grip.

"I'm out of patience. You can't just keep walking away from me, Sakura."

"How the hell do you expect me to react? After everything that's happened?"

He regarded this and pulled back slightly, still unwilling to release her.

"This isn't what I wanted to happen."

A vague admission. Breathing in deeply, Sasuke's black eyes moved across Sakura's face until they locked with her own. Green eyes watched him carefully; distrusting and filled with uncertainty.

"I'm suppose to protect you," he continued firmly, "not be who you need to be protected from."

The sincerity was unexpected, pushing her heart to the floor like it was made of lead. She bit her lip to keep it from shaking. "I don't want to talk about this..." Sakura pleaded, pushing harder to get him to release her. "Let me go, Sasuke."

His face didn't react, but he increased his grip on her upper arms as the struggling frantically increased.

"Let go of me! Sasuke! _Let go of me!_"

She sent chakra to her arms to help her break free but unfortunately he had already thought to do the same. The two strengths clashed, pushing forcibly against each other in the battle for power; one to flee, the other to subdue.

Sakura grimaced slightly, knowing her emotions would once again prove to be her downfall. Her chakra stayed weak alongside her spirit. The resolve behind Sasuke's power stayed firm, just barely keeping Sakura's at bay.

Dark eyes frowned disapprovingly into hers. "Done yet?"

"Why are you doing this..." Her voice cracked. Sasuke was sending her emotions into overdrive. If she was driving him crazy, he was turning her brain to confetti. She was now scared shitless of this man, yet there he was, holding her possessively in an abandoned alleyway trying to prove she meant something to him. It was hard to want to run and even harder to want to stay.

"How am I suppose to trust you?" Sakura demanded through tears. "_Why_ am I suppose to trust you? I can't have anything to do with you without getting hurt in some horrible way." She shook her head regretfully, knowing she had to do what was best for her sanity. "No more, Sasuke. Please. I can't do it anymore. I can't handle it."

The injury behind that sweet suffering voice left him paralysed. He was breathing heavy now, mouth slightly open, staring at her with a small knit in his brow.

He released her arm, bringing his hand up to tentatively touch Sakura's jawline. She recoiled. "Don't..." she breathed, using her freed hand to pull his away.

Determination took hold of Sasuke's features as he pushed her resistance aside and gripped the sides of her face. "I have to," he snapped.

He kissed her hard, crushing Sakura's slight frame against the hard stone wall with his body.

Her resistance was feeble at best as the Uchiha took control of his claim. A small murmur of protest escaped, but he had thoroughly silenced her, using the slight parting of her lips as a way to gain access. He felt himself losing reserve; Sakura tasted so damn sweet and it was then he realized he had been starving for it. He needed her. She was the one bright light that ordained him to be a better man.

Sakura attempted to pull back again, but the wall behind her gave little allowance, and it only forced Sasuke to push further. In all honestly, if she really wanted to stop him, she could have made it known. Warmth enveloped and who could argue that it didn't feel overwhelmingly good to be trapped in Uchiha Sasuke's strong dominating arms. Hard muscles pressed into her, held her, willed her to feel safe again. Her resistance paused, delayed at a crossroads, shrugging at her as if to say, _Yeah... I don't know what you want me to do!_

The conflict didn't last long. She realized then that her own natural instinct for self-preservation had her trying in vain to get him to stop once more. Her arms rose up between them, pushing at Sasuke's chest. "Sasuke-! Stop!" she managed to gasp.

He growled low, gripping the offending arms and somehow slamming her back up against the opposite wall of the alley, barely breaking contact in the process. He held Sakura's wrists tightly against the wall, finally releasing her mouth to stare boldly into her wide, glassy eyes.

"I can't take back what I've done," he breathed lowly, "I can't regret it either. You know that about me."

Sakura's eyebrows knitted in confusion, but her silence encouraged him to continue.

"I don't know how I can make you trust me again. I can't always protect you from who I was, or who i am., or who I will be. I'm condemned to my own hell... Who knows what I'll do next..." he swallowed hard, black eyes scorching into hers. "But I will always come back for you."

The declaration rippled. Sakura exhaled slowly, her breathe visible in the cool damp air.

A rough hand came up once more to carefully touch her face.

"Sasuke..." she cautioned, eyes shifting to the ground. Beads of water began to form on the stone walkway; it had started to rain without them noticing...

"'I've made my choice," he pushed, gritting his teeth to indicate the matter was not open for discussion. "There's no one else I give a damn about so if at the very least I'm someone you're trying to forget, then I'll take it. I'll take whatever you've got left."

He withdrew suddenly, glaring over his shoulder at the rapidly changing weather. He shrugged off his black training jacket.

Sakura stayed put, albeit shaking, pressed flat against the wall as if Sasuke were still restraining her. Her eyes remained searching the ground, indecipherable and uncaring in regards to the now heavy rain pouring down on them.

"Here." He placed his jacket into Sakura's hands. She blinked. Finally. Shaking fingers quickly coiled into the warm fabric. She nodded slowly at the gesture, still absorbing the words he had just spoken.

Hands now in his pockets, Sasuke didn't appear to mind the rain in the least either. The black material of his shirt molded against his body, beads dripping from the ebony spikes of his hair. "I will _always_ come back for you," he reminded, turning away from the stunned girl to make his way out the tension-filled corridor.

He had said all he was capable of saying, and although it took all his strength to keep from running back and demanding she be his through sheer alpha-driven instinct, he knew it was ultimately a decision left fairly in Sakura's hands.

"Sasuke-kun!"

He stopped in his tracks, looking expectantly at her over his shoulder.

Sakura walked towards him, putting on his jacket as she did so. She didn't know what she was doing just yet. Her thoughts raced, her body moved on auto-pilot. Calm on the surface, one could not have guessed how desperately her brain and heart fought to join forces at that very moment.

There would be no easy way to handle this. Uchiha Sasuke was a man with a shadowed past and an unstable future. He had the temperament of a child, the personality of a gated block of ice, and the arrogance of a hundred accomplished shinobi... she knew all this. She knew he was overprotective, quick to jealousy, quick to avenge, and quick to shed blood without hesitation or remorse.

But one thing she knew for sure, for which she was absolutely positive, he would risk his life to protect her, as he had proven time and time again. Her mind re-winded as she approached this seemingly dark, dangerous man at the end of the narrow corridor. Small gestures flashed in her mind a mile a minute: Sasuke warning her of all possible danger, snapping at her when she was careless with her health, losing his temper when Neji got too close, researching her missions so he could keep an eye on her, making sure she ate, making sure she slept... How had she missed these details before? Even if Sasuke was lost behind his own darkness, she had never seen him more clearly than in that moment.

He walked forward to meet her halfway, a questioning look in his black penetrating eyes.

There was no way out, Sakura realized. There was only through.

She smiled softly. "Just testing."

He smirked, stifling the amused air that threatened to escape. "Fine. So now what?"

Sakura looked around her, sighing thoughtfully as she assessed the downpour. "Walk me home?" She nodded to reaffirm her request. "Let's start there."

He watched her for a moment before nodding back, satisfied. "Deal. Let's go."

Bravely, tentatively, Sakura raised her hand from her side. Sasuke glanced at the subtle invitation as he turned his back to lead them out the alleyway, seemingly ignoring it. With a knowing smile, Sakura shrugged inwardly, lowering her hand just before he reached back behind him, and took it.


End file.
